Yami no Kokoro
by Curious Nightmare
Summary: Rating due to Japanese words used. Malik, Ryou, Yugi, and Seto are invited to Hogwarts. Crossover with Harry Potter. RR
1. Letters and Magic

**Howdy…I'm gonna make this short and to the point…I dun own YGO or HP characters…all I own is my goldfish that I won in a ping pong ball toss.**

Oh, and some shameless advertising: **Go read my friend Silverwitch07's stories! And leave nice reviews.**

R/R and enjoy.

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_Dear Mr. Mouto,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been invited to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in England. Please find an enclosed list of the needed supplies. Term starts September 1st, and we expect your owl by no later than August 15. Due to your age, and exams taken in 5th and 7th years, you will be placed in 4th year, unless further notified. Also enclosed are a list of items and lessons recommended for you to study so you will be up to speed with your classmates. We look forward to seeing you at Hogwarts._

_Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress_

**Chapter One: Letters and Magic**

Yugi lay stretched out on the couch. It was a muggy, humid summer day. He cast a languid glance at the TV before turning it off. There had been nothing to do since Battle City. Bakura had disappeared on the Battle Ship, Malik had gone back to Egypt with his siblings at the end of Battle City, Seto wouldn't speak to him unless his brother's life depended on it, and Jou, Honda, and Anzu were out of town, so that left…nothing.

"Yugi!" his mother called from the kitchen. "Run down to the Game Shop, your grandpa has to go get a shipment of cards and he wants you to watch it 'til he gets back."

"Aa," Yugi said reluctantly, peeling himself from the couch. "Tell Jii-chan I'll be right over."

Wearing his typical sleeveless muscle shirt, leather pants, and chains, Yugi left the house for the shop. Well, at least he had _something_ to do today…even if it did mean going out into the summer heat. It was an unusually hot summer for Domino City, Japan, and it was felt by all the inhabitants, from the residents of the Mouto household, to multi-million dollar corporations like Kaiba corp., where the air conditioning had just failed.

Seto Kaiba, CEO of Kaiba corp. glared at his secretary. "What do you mean they're too busy to come out and fix the air conditioning?" he asked through gritted teeth. This was not a happy day.

The unfortunate woman cowered under the young CEO's cold gaze. "I-I'm sorry, sir," she managed to spit out, "b-but that's what the man said."

"Well then get on the phone and find another company to come and fix it," Kaiba nearly shouted. "There's got to be more than one damn company in this kami forsaken town! Now find them!" The last part he did shout. The stress and heat had finally started to get to him and were taking their toll. The poor secretary fled her boss's office in terror. Seto Kaiba on a _good_ day was not a good thing.

As soon as the terrified girl had fled his office, Kaiba sat down at his desk. Resisting the urge to bang his head, he settled, instead, for leaning it on his hands. Why him?

_Oh good,_ Kaiba thought dryly, as a slight breeze blew through the now open windows of his office. _There's a breeze. Now if the damn air would start working again!_ In frustration, he began to type.

Yugi sighed as he sat behind the counter of his jii-chan's shop, leaning his head on the counter.

"Soooooo….bored..." the minute duelist whined to no one in particular.

**/Why don't you do something, then/** came the voice of Yami from his soulroom.

_/Easier said, than done, mou hitori no boku/_ Yugi sighed, changing his position on the stool so he wouldn't fall off.

**/Your jii-chan should be back soon, shouldn't he/** Yami offered in an attempt to be helpful.

_/If all goes well, yes/_ Yugi said, sighing again. He faintly noticed a slight pressure on his head. /_Wazzat/_ he asked, groggily.

**/I don't know, do you want me to appear and look/** Yami asked.

_/Nah, don't bother, it left now/_ Yugi said, yawning as he lifted his head and looked eye to eye at an owl. Yugi blinked. Yami, in his soulroom, blinked. The owl hooted.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Yugi screamed, jumping back in surprise. In his haste, he had forgotten he was on a stool, so he fell to the floor with a flump, knocking his head on the wall behind him as he fell.

Just as Yugi managed to compose himself, and sit up, the bell on the door rang. Panicking, he grabbed the owl and stuffed it in a cabinet where it wouldn't be seen.

"Yugi?" his grandpa asked in a slightly worried tone, noticing his grandson's state.

"Oh, jii-chan, thank goodness! There was this owl, and—" Yugi started babbling, but he was cut off by his grandpa chuckling softly as he let the indignant bird out of its prison.

"Well now, what have we here?" Sugoroku asked, pulling a letter from the bird's foot and setting the rather ruffled and indignant animal onto the counter. "It's addressed to you, Yugi."

Cautiously, Yugi took the parchment envelope from his jii-chan and opened it. Inside was a letter that made him to a double take, and he could tell that Yami, looking through his eyes, was rubbing his own in disbelief.

"Um, jii-chan," Yugi started, cautiously. "Have you ever heard of Hogwarts?"

"ZAKENNAYO! GET BACK HERE YOU BAKA BIRD!" Seto screamed, chasing after a very frightened owl with his laptop, and throwing random things at it. The heat and stress had been taking there toll on him, but this bird was the last straw. He couldn't take it anymore, so he snapped. As soon as the owl had landed in front of him on his desk, he had decided it had to go. Tripping over a chair, the slightly insane CEO got back up and continued his chase.

It was about this time that his secretary, now much happier at having found someone to come and fix the air conditioning, entered the office of the young CEO, only to find it a mess and Seto Kaiba, himself, screaming profanities at a terrified owl. Blinking once, she turned and left, shutting the door behind her. Sometimes it was better not to disturb him. She glanced at Kaiba corp.'s chief engineer heading towards the door.

"I wouldn't go in there, if I were you," she said.

"Why?" he asked.

There was a loud thump, followed by a stream of curses and a strangled hooting noise.

The two shared a look.

"I needed coffee anyway," the engineer said, turning and retracing his steps back the way he had come.

The phone rang.

"Hello?...no, I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba is…" there was another thump, "'out' at the moment. Can I take a message?"

Meanwhile, somewhere in Tokyo, Jou hung up the phone he had been on.

"Well, any luck?" Honda asked as Shizuka sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Iie," Jou said, disappointedly. "He wasn't even in the office."

"Wow, who'd have ever imagined Kaiba taking a break," Honda said, whistling.

"Ue, I know," Jou said. "Well, it's either that, or he's finally snapped."

"Yeah, and what's the chance of _that_ happening?" Honda asked, chuckling slightly as the two turned their attention back to the TV.

Back still, in Domino City, Japan, in the office of one, CEO of Kaiba corp., Seto Kaiba, said lunatic was now sitting calmly at his desk, reading the letter the owl, who now sat across the room from Kaiba, had brought. Quirking an eyebrow, he looked up at the owl.

"And you actually expect me to believe this nonsense?" he said, skeptically.

The owl hooted.

"Of course, I am talking to an owl…" Seto muttered, darkly. He threw his hands up into the air. "Oh why not," he exclaimed, writing a note and holding it up for the owl. "Here! I'm already insane, so I might as well go to a school for the insane. And if you're working for that koinu Jounouchi, we can all have a good laugh about it later!"

The owl, sensing another bout of insanity coming on, quickly dove and caught the letter in its beak, then flew out the window as fast as its wings would take it, leaving Kaiba to mutter darkly to himself, occasionally laughing.

_

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Well, there it is…chapter one of my story. Hope y'all liked it. As always, R/R, flamers are bakas and will be made examples of, and belated happy turkey day. Ja minna!_


	2. Manners and Customs

_Konnichiwa minna-san! Gomennasai for my long absense (I've had this chapter written for a while, but I wanted to write a bit more before posting anything, because after this the chapters need serious work). As has been requested, I am going to be adding a Japanese word list at the bottom Gomennasai again for forgetting that. A/N at the bottom. R/R._

**Disclaimer: Dun own, and wouldn't really want the responsibility…I may be creative, but I don't really think I could pull off either of these series.**

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**  
_/I can't believe you did that, Bakura/_

**/What/**

_/You sent the guy at customs to the shadow realm/_

**/So/**

_/So! That's got to be illegal. We'll be arrested! I don't know what soul-stealing would fall under, but it's go to be against some law/_

**/Well, at least we got through/**

**Chapter Two: Manners and Customs**

At an airport in Belize, Ryou Bakura stood in line at the ticket counter waiting to get his baggage checked. His father had left him off there fifteen minutes earlier to return to his dig. He had been quite confused to see his son there, earlier that summer, but had allowed him to stay. Now Ryou was headed to London, England to go to Hogwarts. He had been skeptical at first, but Bakura had decided. _"Besides," he had said. "Why waste such an opportunity. And if it is a trick…we can just murder whoever played it."_ Yes, that was his other half's solution for everything…can't get rid of the problem, just find whoever caused it and knock 'em off.

**/I heard that, Ryou/** Bakura said, irritably.

Choosing to ignore his Yami, lest he be suckered into letting him out of his soulroom, he instead returned his attention to the real world. Finally he was at the front of the line. Giving the lady his luggage, he headed off in search of his flight gate.

Giving himself a quick pat down in the bathroom in case Bakura had hidden any weaponry on his body, Ryou headed to security. He got through without a hitch and went off in search of the terminal his flight would be leaving from.

"Now boarding flight 231 to Gatwick in London, England," the loudspeaker announced. "Now boarding rows 1-10."

_/That's our flight/_ Ryou said, nervously as he waited for his row to be called.

**_/And I should care, why/ _**Bakura asked, disinterestedly.

_/Never mind/_ Ryou said. His yami was hopeless.

"Rows 31-40," the loudspeaker announced.

Getting up, Ryou got in line. Hopefully nothing too severe would happen during this flight. Of course with Bakura on the scene, the chances of that were slim to none. Handing his ticket to the lady, he headed down the ramp and boarded the plane.

"You have your money?"

"Yes, Isis," Malik replied, annoyed and bored.

"And you packed everything you'll need."

"Yes, Isis..."

"You have the Sennen Rod, right?"

"Yes, Isis…"

"You have all of your tickets?"

"Yes, Isis…"

"And you have your passport?"

"Yes, Isis…"

"Miss Isis, I believe Malik-sama has everything he will need," Rishid said, putting his hand on Isis's shoulder. "Let him go or he'll miss his flight."

_That's probably the point_, Malik thought sourly as Isis gave him a crushing hug, and told him to behave himself.

"Don't forget to let us know when you get there," Isis called after him as he passed through security (with a little help from the Sennen Rod) and ran to catch his flight.

"Don't worry, Miss Isis," Rishid said. "He'll be fine. He can take care of himself."

"I know," Isis said. "And it's the way that he takes care of himself that worries me. I just hope he behaves himself and doesn't cause an incident."

"You really need to stop worrying," Rishid said. "He'll be fine."

"You're right," Isis sighed, turning back towards the airport's entrance. "Let's go."

Rishid nodded and followed. Meanwhile, in the international section of the airport, Malik Ishtal ran towards his terminal. The plane was due to leave any moment, and the best he could do was control the minds of everyone he saw to keep them out of his way. Shame the rod couldn't gain control over a mind long distance. So it was, panting, that he skidded to a halt in front of the lady who had been about to close the gate.

"Here…ticket…need…board…" Malik said through gasps for breath.

Tearing the ticket, she let him go.

_That was close,_ Malik thought as he ran onto the plane. _What would I do without the Sennen Rod?_

Meanwhile, somewhere over the North Atlantic, Ryou, despite his best efforts, had fallen asleep, allowing the ever vigilant spirit of the ring to take over. Looking around at the cramped quarters his Hikari had been inhabiting for the past few hours, Bakura decided they weren't to his liking, and sent his seat mate to the shadow realm. What his Hikari had said earlier returned to the thief, who smirked to himself.

**I guess I do solve everything with the shadow realm. Ah well, to each their own,**he thought, reclining his seat. There was a grunt from behind him.

"Sir, would you please put your seat back up," came a man's voice from behind Bakura. "I'm sitting here."

"Too bad for you," Bakura said, sending him a rude hand gesture he had learned from an American movie import.

The man in the seat behind him started to wriggle around, jarring the thief out of his relaxation. Scowling at the mortal's impudence, he sent the poor man to the shadow realm, then turned to glare at the terrified seat mate of the now hollow shell.

"Are we going to have problems, too?" Bakura asked in his best threatening voice.

The would-be rather imposing man emitted an "eep" and shook his head.

"Good," Bakura said, and returned to his relaxing, though not for long.

_/Bakura! Let me out/_ Ryou's voice screamed from his head.

Bakura scowled…damn, his Hikari wasn't supposed to wake up so soon.

**/Mou, Ryou, just let me sit out this flight…you never let me out anymore/ **Bakura said, not caring what his other half's response would be.

_/I never let you out in the first place, if you remember, mou hitori no boku…you always came out anyway/_ Ryou said, glaring.

**/Well…why should I change now/** Bakura said, resting his feet on the seat in front of him.

The lady in the newly offended seat turned around.

"Young man, please remove your feet from my seat," she said in a shrill voice that made Bakura cringe.

"Zakkenayo," Bakura said, resting his hands behind his head.

"Young man," the lady said again, even more shrilly.

Scowling, Bakura looked at her. This old crone must be senile.

"Urusai, busu," Bakura said. "I don't care."

"Young man," the lady said again.

Pissed, Bakura did the only thing he could think of…he sent her…and her seat mate, who had a cold and had been sniffling the whole flight, to the shadow realm. Finally…he had peace…that was not to last.

"Excuse me, sir, but would you like something to drink?" the flight attendant asked in a voice that was all too happy. Her teeth looked about ready to crack from smiling.

"No, now leave me alone…everyone!" Bakura exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" she asked, her smile, if possible, widening.

Rolling his eyes, Bakura picked out a drink, took his pretzels, and sent her on her way to the shadow realm.

For the next few hours until the plane landed, Bakura entertained himself by flicking pretzels at a mother an her baby in the row catty-corner his. He chuckled softly as the exasperated mother looked around desperately for the culprit. Her baby started crying as a well-aimed pretzel beened its nose.

"Heh, baka mortals," Bakura chuckled to himself. He was, however, distracted from his game by the now soulless flight attendant from before coming by with a meal. This was one interruption the thief didn't mind.

Praising the gods that he was out of those cramped quarters, Malik literally ran off the plane, leaving a trail of trampled people in his wake. Collecting his luggage, he turned his attention to his next hurtle…customs. Heading over to the idiotically long lines, he stuck his hand in his pocket in a casual manner. Suddenly everyone in front of him remembered things they had to do…and left. Smirking to himself, he stepped up to the counter. Ah…the power of persuasion.

When the man at the customs counter proved to be annoying, Malik reverted, once again, to the power of persuasion. The machines seemed to think he was a criminal who had a knife with him—the Sennen rod—but the workers seemed to think otherwise. However, security wasn't too happy with this turn of events, and he ended up having to take control of several hundred minds just to get through stupid customs. Deciding he might as well make it a clean escape, he did a sweep of the whole airport and took over everyone's minds. Okay, so he forgot one, or two, including one confused Customs worker, two puppies, and three Vietnamese acrobats.

Running behind the Customs' counter, Malik stamped his passport and headed out into the main part of the airport. The power to control minds was a good thing.

Meanwhile, on flight 231 from Belize, the pilots were frantically trying to get something other than "hail Malik-sama" out of the people at the control tower.

"We are experiencing some technical difficulties," the pilot said, coming over the loud speaker. "Therefore our landing may be a little rough…"

"It had better not be," Bakura shouted, getting odd looks from the plane's other passengers. "Zakennayo."

Several jolts caused Bakura to hit his head on the seat in front of him. The dazed thief watched out the window as they swerved to miss several other airplanes. The landing strip was a mess. He watched two planes collide on take off and the frantic passengers jumping out of both vehicles.

"What the hell happened here?" he thought out loud. "I'm the only one I know who causes this much damage…" A sudden thought came to the thief. He scowled.

As soon as the plane stopped, the poor passengers ran off as quickly as they could, Bakura pushing his way to the lead. After getting his luggage straight from the racks, the thief headed into the terminal, stopping at customs on the way (they had replaced the workers at the counter with sane ones).

"Damn," Malik muttered, scratching his head as his mind-slaves ran into each other randomly. "Which way is the exit?"

"For you, it's this way," a voice growled from behind him.

Malik whirled around. "Bakura," he said, smirking. "You look a little worse for wear…your plane not get directions in?"

Bakura growled. "Bakayaro, you did that on purpose."

"Such language," Malik said. "So, when did you get out of the Shadow Realm?"

"My Hikari and I were transported to Belize no thanks to you," Bakura said.

"Good to see you, too," Malik said. "Now, let's get out of here so I can release my control on these simpletons."

"Fine," Bakura said, grabbing Malik and exiting to the streets of London.

"So, where are you going?" Malik asked, wiping the thief's fingerprints off of his jewelry.

"The Leaky Cauldron, I believe it was called," Bakura said.

"You, too, huh," Malik said. "No surprise there."

"Oh, the inexpressible joy," Bakura growled as he started off in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron, following the direction of the ring.

"Hey, wait for me!" Malik exclaimed, running after the thief. They were both slightly hampered by their luggage.

"Oh, this is going to be a fun year," Bakura muttered sarcastically as Malik caught up.

_

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Well there it is, Folks…Chapter Two of my crossover. Be forewarned, I am thinking about changing the title again…I will let you know (all four of you) if I do decide to. Thank you for your great reviews, I appreciate each and every one of you. I realize that I did not leave you a clue as to what I was saying in the last chapter, so I'm going to put "Ice-Spirit Phoenix's Quick Guide To Japanese Phrases" here at the request of most of my reviewers. Don't forget to leave a nice little review…as stated before, flamers are bakas, and anything I can do to make this story better or easier to understand (bar pulling out the Japanese) just let me know. Arigatou minna!_

_Oh, and one more thing…about Ryou being transported to Belize, I needed him out of the Shadow Realm/The Sennen Puzzle for this because I'm going to be altering the timelines slightly, so bear with me on this…_

_Silverwitch07: Arigatou, my ever faithful reviewer, and dun worry, I'll review your story (eventually…muhahahahaha). Ja mata._

_Brit crit: Arigatou gozaimasu for your review. Hehe…I have a few pairings in mind…If you'd like, feel free to suggest any you'd especially like to see and I'll see what I can do. hope this chapter was to your liking. Ja!_

_Evil Gerbil D: Arigatou gozaimasu for your review. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. _

_Kenmeishouri: I hope I spelled that right…anyway, Arigatou for your review, and don't worry, the translations are at the bottom. _

And now…the translations (in the order they appear) for chapters 1 & 2:

Aa- yes

Jii-chan- grandpa

Kami- god

Mou hitori no boku- the other me

Zakennayo- this basically translates into all forms of the word Fuck. Exact translation depends on how it's used. So you can tell someone to "Fuck Off" with this word, or use it to exclaim surprise as in "Oh Fuck". A great word for any occasion

Baka- another versatile insult. It's meaning, depending on where in Japan you're from and how much you want to insult the other person, can range anywhere from idiot to ass.

Iie- no

Ue- yes

Sennen- Thousand Years (Millennium)

Yami- dark

Hikari- light

Mou- jeez

Urusai- literally means "noisy" but is used to say "shut up".

Busu- ugly woman

Koinu- puppy

(Gomennasai: sorry)

(Arigatou/Arigatou gozaimasu: thank you)

(Minna/Minna-san: everyone)

_Ja Minna!_  



	3. Adventures in Diagon Alley Part 1

_Howdy Folks, good news…I emailed this to not only SW, but to myself as well! I love the Yahoo Sent Folder right about now…Anyway, I'm back with another chapter. I hope y'all enjoy! R/R_

**Disclaimer: ISP does not own YGO or HP…**

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Yugi screamed as the plane he was on narrowly missed several other planes that had run into each other, completely blocking the runway. It was really a miracle that none of them had caught fire._

_**/Yugi/** came the queasy voice of Yami from his soulroom._

_/Yes, Yami/_

**_/I am NEVER riding on an "airplane" again/_**

**Chapter Three: Adventures in Diagon Alley Part 1**

After getting a room in the Leaky Cauldron, and a language charm by the innkeeper, Yugi Mutou headed out towards Gringotts Bank where the innkeeper, Tom, had recommended him go first to get his money exchanged.

_I hope the exchange rate to wizard's money is better than that to pounds_, Yugi thought as he passed numerous shops on his way to the bank. As he walked up the stone steps that lead into the ancient bank, he did a double take. On either side of the front door was posted a creature in a red uniform that was almost as tall as him. Emitting a squeak, he hurried up the steps and into the bank.

Inside the bank proved to be little better as the mysterious creatures from outside were manning the counters, too. The only humans in sight were there as patrons. With a sigh, Yugi got into line for the nearest goblin (or so he guessed). As Yugi made it up to the counter, he ran into a rather bothersome obstacle…the counter had been built with people of at least 5' in height in mind. Clearing his throat, he waited.

Up above, the goblin manning the counter looked around. He could've sworn he'd heard something. Deciding it was nothing more than a poltergeist, he looked at his line.

"Next," he said, again, noticing that the line was lagging. Honestly, didn't these humans ever pay any attention at all?

Waiting, he heard it again…noticing that it came from below him, he leaned over the counter. Down below was a rather short human teenager wearing a muggle "punk" get-up, and looking rather peeved.

"Ah," the goblin said. "I see. May I help you?"

"Yeah," Yugi said, annoyed, pulling out the money his grandpa had given him and setting it on the counter. "I'd like to get this exchanged to whatever the currency is here."

"Very well," the goblin said, taking the yen and counting it, wrinkling his nose in the process. He had always hated foreign money…it was worse than pounds to exchange and there had been quite a bit of it today. Finally, he pulled out several gold, silver and bronze coins and handed them to the boy.

"Thanks," the boy said in obviously charmed English, bowing. The goblin gave him a quizzical look as he left. There were so many foreigners in one day…and while the Quidditch World Cup was going on, too. You'd think they'd all be there watching it.

As soon as he had finished at the bank, Yugi headed for Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. He needed two pairs of plain black robes and a pair of dress robes.

"Dress robes?" Yugi muttered, reading down the list again. "What are those?"

Not getting an answer from the paper, he went into the shop. After having his measurements taken, the lady told him to go and come back later to pick up his uniforms. Next, he headed toward the book shop, stopping at several shops along the way. When Yugi entered the large shop, he began the search for his books.

/_Wow…there are so many books here!_/ Yugi exclaimed, looking through several titles, before moving on.

**/Yes…and they all send off waves of power, some stronger than others…some older/ **Yami said.

/_Hey, this looks like it's about Egypt!_/ Yugi exclaimed, pulling a thick, dusty volume off the shelf.

Yami chuckled. /**We are in the "history" section, aibou/**

/_I know, but—hey!_/ Yugi exclaimed as he tripped over something on the floor. "Malik?"

"Shhhhh," the Egyptian said, standing and putting a hand over Yugi's mouth. He cast a nervous look over his shoulder before ducking under a table. Sounds of a mob entering the store floated through the shelves.

Yugi gave Malik a dry look. "Making friends, Malik?" he asked.

"Eh heheh, you could say that," Malik said, rubbing the back of his neck as a sweatdrop formed on the side of his face.

"Honestly, Malik," came the voice of Yami, who had taken over. "Can't you go anywhere without wreaking havoc? I'm sure you were behind the airport jamming…"

"Not so loud," Malik whispered, frantically, waving his hands in the air like a lunatic. "You'll draw attention to me!"

Yami gave him a look. ' "Malik, you're drawing attention to yourself," Yami pointed out.

Malik stopped. "Oh yeah…I guess I am."

"Baka," Yami muttered. Noticing the mob out of the corner of his eye, he pushed Malik down behind a shelf. "Stay low and quiet," he ordered, turning in feigned interest to the books on the shelf. As soon as the mob had passed with a little help from Malik, he turned back to the gravekeeper. "All right, Malik…what did you do this time?"

_

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Review Responses:_

_Soccergirl13: I'm glad you liked it. I had fun writing that chapter. As to your question, nope, I am not planning on any yaoi._

_Silverwitch07: Hey there…as I said, here's the chapter. Monkeys…_

_aNiMe-AzN-aNgEl: Here's the update you requested…I hope it's been to your liking…_

_TheOldOne: They'll be there as long as I can keep them…oh, and don't worry, I have no plans for yaoi…_

_Chelley Angel: Them, play nice? That would be something to see…and nope, no plans for shounen-ai…_

_jak'idiot: Awwww…thank you… I'm glad you like the way I write…I put a lot of love into these characters (though they'd be inclined to disagree). Oh, and don't worry, I don't plan on Yugi being a suck up…_

_kenmeishouri: I took your advice…and here's an update! (not quite ASAP, but, well…)_

_Akio-chan: Katsuya is Jounouchi's first name? Aaaaah! starts leafing madly through Shounen Jump I can't find it (his name)…Anyway, I was using it backwards, so just ignore it for now, 'k? I'll see about going back and changing it later. Also, glad to be of assistance, and glad you liked it…_

_Spiritkitsune: Heh, those two are my favorites, too…could you guess? Glad you liked the chap, it's been my favorite to write so far except, well…you'll find out later Hope you liked._

_DarkMagicianGirlDragonKnight: Glad you liked it. I read and reviewed your story… And I really don't like Tea._

_Nachzes Black-Rider: (Review for Chapter 1) Glad you liked it…_

_Ja Minna!_


	4. Adventures in Diagon Alley Part 2

**Disclaimer: Yes people, it's true…I am actually JK Rowling…my brain was transferred into the body of a teenage American anime freak/goth wannabe…if you believe this, you need more help than I do…(in other words, I dun own them, now on with the show)**

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"_All right, Malik," Bakura said as they entered Diagon Alley. "You take the high road, and I'll take the low road, and we'll meet up at the bank tonight to get our money exchanged after we get our school supplies."_

"_Works for me," Malik said, shrugging. "But won't Ryou give you hell for that?"_

"_And I would care why?" Bakura asked, raising an eyebrow._

"_Your hide, not mine," Malik said, starting off in the direction of a likely looking donor._

**Chapter Four: Adventures in Diagon Alley Part 2**

Malik walked down the crowded street, sticking out like a sore thumb in his gold and Battle City attire. He was attracting much unwanted attention from the passing wizards. It wasn't good to stand out when you're a thief…it made you easier to ID. After collecting enough money to buy anything he would need, he ducked into the nearest shop Eyelop's Owl Emporium. Of course, by this time, several people were noticing that their money was missing.

Malik looked around the cages that lined the walls and floor of the tiny shop.

"Hello, are you interested in purchasing a pet?" asked the man behind the counter.

"Uh, sure," Malik said. "What do you have?"

"We carry just about any pet a wizard could want," the man said. "Owls for your delivery, cats, toads, rats, turtles, whatever is to your taste?"

"Um, perhaps I'll just look around a bit…" Malik said.

The clerk nodded and went back to the counter. As soon as the coast was clear, Malik ducked back out of the shop and into the crowd. First things first…he needed to blend in…and that meant getting his robes.

The bell tinkled as Malik stepped into Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. There was no one up front, but before Malik could ring the bell on the desk, a rushed looking witch came out from the back.

"Yes, yes, can I help you?" she asked breathlesslsy, whacking the tape measure that was draped around her neck when it started to, well, slither towards Malik. This unnerved him.

"Um, yes, I need to get a uniform for Hogwarts," Malik said, moving to pull out his list, but the witch held up her hand.

"No need dear, follow me right this way," she said, leading him into the back.

In the back were two stools. One was currently occupied by a boy with slicked platinum blond hair. The greasy blond gave Malik an appraising once-over when he entered…Malik ignored him.

"Just stand here and we'll get your measurements," the lady directed Malik, standing him on the stool and slipping a robe over his head. She began pinning different seams and the like, asking various questions about house, color of dress robes, and the like. Finally, she left, leaving Malik with prissy boy to his right.

"You muggle-born?" he asked.

Malik gave him a blank look.

"Sorry, English is my third language…what's a muggle-born?" Malik asked.

"Someone with non-magic parents," the boy said.

"Oh, no, my family's practiced magic for years," Malik said, then added mentally: _to put it lightly_

"I see, well then, I'm pleased to meet you," the boy said almost warmly, extending his hand for Malik to shake. He didn't take it.

"Can't say the same here," Malik said. There was something about this prissy brat he didn't like.

Said boy sneered. "My name's Draco Malfoy, and I'd advise you not to mess with me," Draco said.

"Pleasure," Malik said dryly. "I am Malik Ishtal. Don't underestimate me."

The tension in the room could've been cut by a knife…luckily any bloodshed was prevented by the lady coming back in with prissy-boy's robes. With a final glare, Draco hopped down off his stool. Malik sent him off with the one-fingered salute. As soon as Draco was gone, Malik was released as well. Taking his robes, he threw some money on the counter and exited. As he was leaving the shop, pulling his robes on at the same time, Malik walked right into a sour-looking man.

"Watch where you're going," the man said, in a huff, before walking off.

"Bakayaro," Malik called after him.

Grumbling to himself, Malik continued on through the crowd, towards the next store. Several times along the way, he was jostled by crowds of people passing the other direction.

"Damn," Malik muttered as he came upon a group of people standing in the middle of the road, talking. "Don't these people know the concept of walking?" None too gently, he pushed his way through the crowd, earning him dirty looks from loiterers.

As Malik managed to get past the group, he was shoved, yet again, by a crowd going the other direction, right into a nearby cart, covered in neatly stacked rows of glass vials containing liquids. The cart toppled over, and most of its contents shattered, many mixing and causing various reactions.

As Malik hauled himself up, the disgruntled shop manager came out. "I hope you're planning on paying for that," she said, hands on hips. "And all those potions."

"Not now," Malik snapped at the woman. He was getting a serious headache.

"Yes, now," she said. "Now I expect full compensation for my losses."

Growling, Malik walked off.

"Stop!" the woman called after him, but he didn't pay any attention, that is, until he heard footsteps behind him.

"Kuso," Malik muttered, taking off at a run, knocking several people over as he went. As he ran, he passed by a crowd of people surrounding some sort of official looking wizard.

"There!" one of them pointed to Malik as he ran by. "That's the thief that stole my coin purse! I'm sure of it!"

"Yeah, and he gave me leprechaun gold for my ingredients!" the clerk from the apothecary said.

"Zakennayo," Malik swore, picking up the pace as more footsteps and shouts joined the group already following him. _What the fuck? I thought I had kept a low profile. Unless…Bakura._ Deciding he would confront the thief as soon as he was out of this mess, Malik ducked into an opened doorway on his right, and walked quickly towards the back of the store. It was actually the bookstore he had stepped into. Checking to make sure no one was looking, he ducked behind one of the shelves and began crawling along it, bumping into something along the way.

"Malik?"

Yami looked at the Egyptian, eyebrow raised. "So you wrecked a store, stole money, some of which ended up being fake, and got caught?"

Malik rubbed the back of his neck. "Eh, heh heh," he said. "I'm sure none of them noticed me, most of them didn't even turn to look at me when I bumped into them. I'm guessing Bakura did something."

"And how would they possibly get you two mixed up?" Yami asked.

"Um…the hair?" suggested Malik, sheepishly.

Yami gave Malik a look.

"In any case, I probably shouldn't stand around here," Malik said.

"If you come with me, we can finish shopping together," Yugi said, suddenly back in control.

"Sure," Malik said, "Why not? I think I've wreaked enough havoc for one day."

Together, they walked out of the bookshop, Malik pausing near the Monster Book of Monsters display, and accidentally opening the cage. Next thing he knew, he and Yugi were running down the street, screaming, being chased by a mob of people and books.

"Malik! If we ever get out of here alive, I'm gonna kill you!" Yugi yelled.

Malik, however, just kept on screaming.

_

* * *

Well, there it is, folks, chapter 4 of my little story…hope it suited your expectations. I should have chapter 6 up by the end of the week…These note also apply for chapter 5, as this is a double post. Anyway, read and review. Feel free to leave suggestions, but no flames. If you have any ideas you'd like to see, tell me. Ja, minna! Review Responses are in the next chapter…_**And dun forget to read my friend Silverwitch07's fanfics.**

_In my world, Isis taught Malik English because I say so…Ja Minna!  
_


	5. Adventures in Diagon Alley Part 3

**Disclaimer: Incase you missed it the first time, I do not own these characters…**

_

* * *

Bakura and Malik stood staring at the brick wall in front of them. They had already determined that it was solid…Malik's face still hurt from running into the wall. He cast the thief who had pulled him into it a glare. Said thief also had a red face from hitting the wall._

"_We were supposed to go through it," Bakura stated, sensing Malik's glare._

"_We were supposed to go through it," Malik mimicked. "No, really?" snapped Malik. "I thought you just liked running face-first into walls."_

"_Shut up," Bakura snapped, back. Neither were in a good mood._

"_Hm," Malik said, studying the wall. "Maybe the Rod will open it."_

_Bakura rolled his eyes as Malik pulled out the Millennium Rod and attempted to open the wall. Getting angry, he started whacking the wall with the rod._

"_Open, dammit!" Malik yelled at the wall._

_Sighing, Bakura grabbed Malik and drug him back inside the Inn. "When all else fails…use others to your benefit."_

**Chapter Five: Adventures in Diagon Alley Part 3**

Bakura looked around the crowded, narrow streets of Diagon Alley.

/_Are you going to at least let me get my school things?_/ Ryou asked, annoyed at having been locked in his soulroom for so long.

**/If I'm feeling charitable later on/** Bakura drawled as he walked down the street.

/_You've got until lunchtime, then, I'm warning you…_/ Ryou threatened, or at least, attempted to. Bakura just began to laugh hysterically. /_It's not funny_/

**/No, it's hysterical/** Bakura said, between gasps for breath. /You _are threatening _me./

/_And I mean it, too_/ Ryou said, sulkily. His Yami was starting to rub off on him.

Bakura just smirked and continued walking, flipping off anyone who gave him a strange look. Eventually, he came to a branch off of the main road. This one was unlike any of the others, it was a desolate and dimly lit place that gave off the aura of dark magic…or as dark as these modern wizards' magic went. Intrigued, he entered.

The effect of stepping into the street was immediate. Here, due, most likely, to some spell or other, the sun didn't shine as brightly, and the shadows that engulfed side streets and doorways were deep. The kind of shadows Yami no Malik loved…

Bakura shook that thought from his head. Yami no Malik had been destroyed, hopefully, and now was not the time to be reminiscing the past. Now, he had things to discover…and take. Following along the main street as it bent to the right, he ran into a small crowd of people milling about in the street. All looked to be shady characters and many eyed him with utter dislike.

**Probably think I'm non-magic,** Bakura thought, noting that he stuck out with his hair and dress. **Their loss if they decide to attack. **Not paying any heed to the dirty looks, he examined shop windows as he passed them. Eventually he turned around. Everyone in the street had gathered around him in a semi-circle, trapping him against the store window.

"Are you lost," one woman, dirty and dressed in rags, asked in a mocking voice.

"Are you stupid?" Bakura retorted, smoothly. These mortals did not concern him.

"This is not a place for mudbloods," a man to Bakura's right said, snidely.

/_What's a mudblood?_/ Ryou asked.

**/I intend to find out/** Bakura said, tapping into the power of the Sennen Eye.

"And what do you mean by that?" Bakura asked smoothly. He didn't really care what these mortals thought of him, he only cared if they got in his way…which they were currently doing.

One of the wizards smirked confidently. "Let's kill the mudblood," he said.

Bakura rolled his eyes and activated the Sennen Ring. The Ring glowed and sent out a surge of dark energy, making Bakura's hair fly around wildly. The humans began to shriek in fear.

"Your soul is mine!" Bakura exclaimed, pulling the souls from each of their bodies. There were twenty in all.

As suddenly as it had come, the power vanished and the street lightened to it's usual shadows.

_/A bit melodramatic, don't you think/ _Ryou muttered from his soulroom.

**/Maybe, but it gets the point across/** Bakura said, casually stepping around the nearest shell.

Quickly and silently, Bakura slipped away; best not to be caught at the crime scene. He soon found an inhabited part of the alley and entered an interesting looking shop.

The shop was dark and eerie. The things sold there looked like they had been freshly summoned from Bakura's deck. This made the thief feel right at home.

"Can I help you?"

Bakura turned around to see the store manager standing behind him. "I'm browsing," he said.

"This is no place for a student," the manager said. "Is there some reason you've come?"

"To look around in peace," Bakura said. "What kinds of items do you specialize in?"

"Devices to scare and torture," the man said.

"Hm," Bakura said, apparently thinking.

"If that is all," the man said, not so subtly hinting for Bakura to leave.

"Yes," Bakura said. "I shall be going now."

Turning, Bakura exited the shop, one item heavier.

_

* * *

Review Responses:_

_OBSESSED Uber Rei: oh Ra…I don't even want to think about the sorting just yet…but that reminds me…glad you liked it Hope you liked these two chapters, as well._

_Akio-chan: Heh…this has answered your question, I hope…sigh Malik, whatever are we going to do with you…_

_yugiohfreak: Glad you liked it…it makes me happy to hear people say things like that…_

_spiritkitsune: OMG! Thank you so much! I'm so honored you'd say something like that! Hope you liked these two chapters…I plan on these two causing a lot of trouble…_

_aNiMe-AzN-aNgEl: Thank you, thank you…I try to be original in my humor…_

_Silverwitch07: Hehe… Meow._

_Atemu Yugi Lover34: Yeah, he really stepped in it…ah well, that's what makes him such a lovable maniac _

_Raven: I'm glad _

_jak'idiot: Ah they're both to blame…_

_Chelley Angel: Hope you won't be too disappointed…_

_sugarpony: glad you think so…I hope these were long enough? _

_Oh, and one more thing: VOTE FOR THE HOUSES YOU WANT EACH OF THEM TO BE IN…your choices are Gryffindor or Slytherin preferably, Ravenclaw if that's the majority, and I'll shoot myself before I write any of these characters in Hufflepuff. Ja Minna!_


	6. Adventures in Diagon Alley Part 4

**Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies…the YGO and HP cast aren't mine, and never will be. Oh, and I have absolutely nothing against the British…I love England! Seto's just having a bad day.**

_Warning: Severe writer's block ahead…proceed with caution._

_

* * *

Seto entered his room at the Leaky Cauldron. It was small and below his standards. Eye twitching slightly, he sat down and pulled out his laptop. He needed to make sure Mokuba was okay. Flipping the lid, he turned it on._

_Nothing happened._

_Slightly annoyed, Seto pressed the on button again._

_No response._

_He pressed it again._

_Eye twitching, he began pressing the button repeatedly until he received a slight shock._

"_What the hell?" Seto muttered, glaring at his laptop._

_Still nothing happened._

_Growling slightly, Seto dropped the damnable piece of machinery on his bed and stormed out of his room. Stupid British…who didn't have an electrical outlet in their inn?_

**Adventures in Diagon Alley Part 4**

Seto Kaiba was not in a good mood. Upon arriving in the Leaky Cauldron, he had received some rather nasty news…magic and electronics didn't mix. That meant that if he wanted to communicate with Mokuba, he'd have to send a letter. This would not be so bad if it weren't for the way that letters had to be sent from the magic world. You see these wizards didn't have a post man, oh no, instead they had post owls. This did not settle well with the young CEO as he remembered his first experience with wizard mail.

Communication with the outside world would have to be dealt with later, however, because right now he needed to get his school supplies. Turning, he entered the first shop.

Seto walked up to the counter. A young woman greeted him.

"Welcome to Madame Malkin's Robes for all occasions. Can I help you?"

"Yes, I need a set of school robes," Seto said.

"Hogwarts?" asked the lady, leading Seto to the back of the shop.

"Yes," Seto said, glaring.

"Do you need the complete set?"

"Yes," Seto said, still glaring.

Realizing that her current patron didn't want to make conversation, the woman began her work in silence.

Several hours and several shops later, Seto looked at his list. He had everything but the wand. Folding the parchment back into his pocket, he began walking down the street toward Ollivander's Wand Shop, or at least where the innkeeper had said it was located. His progress, however, was halted by a large crowd. Moving over toward the nearest shop where the crowd was thinnest, he caught a flash of gold on a very familiar looking figure followed by a crash. _It can't be, _Seto thought before an explosion sent him flying backwards into the cart of owl cages in front of Eyelops Owl Emporium…

Disoriented and spitting owl feathers out of his mouth, Seto looked around to gain his bearings. About twenty yards in front of him was the spot where he had previously been standing. In front of the shop was an overturned cart of glass bottles of some sort that seemed to be the cause of the explosion, and various other occurrences. The cart owner was nowhere to be seen, having run off after the culprit who smashed their wares.

Extricating himself from the now bent and empty cages, Seto began looking around for his supplies. Picking his way around the wreckage and newly formed herd of pigs, he mentally promised a slow and painful death to Malik Ishtal the next time he saw him.

Soon Seto located what had previously been his school supplies, which had been reduced to a pile of smoldering ashes. He himself was covered in bird droppings and feathers. Upon looking at his reflection in the window of a shop, he also discovered that his hair had turned orange. Scowling, he turned and walked back down the street, his mood even worse than when he'd first entered Diagon Alley. Not looking around, he stormed past a shadowy turn off of the main street and ended up colliding with someone running out of the other alley.

"Watch where you're going," Seto said, glaring at the very familiar figure on the ground before him.

"Why don't you watch where I'm going," Bakura said. "I'm trying to make a clean escape and here you have to ruin it."

Seto rolled his eyes.

"Say Kaiba…what happened to your hair?" Bakura asked.

"Don't. Ask." Seto ground out.

Bakura snickered, earning another glare from the young CEO.

Annoyed beyond compare, Seto began to walk off, ignoring the thief following him.

"So where are we going?" Bakura asked casually, hands in pockets.

"_I _am going to get my school supplies," Seto said. "Mine were destroyed."

"Really?" Ryou asked, having taken control. "That's awful. Would you mind if I came with you? My yami hasn't let me get my things yet…he was in control all morning…Seto? Seto, wait!"

Seto just ignored the (in his opinion, at least) schizophrenic boy following behind him.

"If you want to join me, you are responsible for keeping up, and it's Kaiba, not Seto…we are not on a first-name basis," Seto said, not stopping.

"Kaiba!" Ryou called, desperately. Getting no response, he took off running to catch up. "Wait for me!"

_

* * *

Well there it is, folks…chapter 6 of my little story. Sorry it's so short, but I was suffering severe writer's block, so let me know if you see any problems with this chapter. Anyway, a special thanks to each and every one of my reviewers…I am tallying votes as I go. House polls are open until they reach the train._

_Current Poll Results: _

_Malik: Slytherin 1st, Gryffindor 2nd _

_Ryou: Gryffindor 1st, Slytherin 2nd, Ravenclaw 3rd _

_Seto: Ravenclaw & Slytherin tied_

_Yugi: Gryffindor 1st, Slytherin & Ravenclaw tied 2nd _

_And as per request, here's a quick guide to the Japanese that have occurred since Chapter 2: _

_Aibou- partner_

_Kuso- shit_

_Zakennayo- all forms of the f word…actual translation depends on usage_

_I think that's it…if there's anything I missed, tell me in a review_

_And now…Review responses: _

_ShAtTeReDQuEeN: Yeah…doing something different would be nice, but it would also be a lot of work…:p I'll see what the polls say._

_Nachzes Black-Rider: MEEP! O.O ducks and hides under desk Um…here's Seto…_

_Sakura Kamitsu: Thank you…takes a bow_

_Yugiohfreak: Glad you understand…_

_aNiMe-AzN-aNgEl: Glad you like it… and your idea has been taken into consideration…_

_Raven: Glad you like it…_

_Silverwitch07: I've already given you your response…;p_

_Chelley Angel: Very hard decision, and yes all personalities are being sorted at once._

_Nunofyorbiz: I'll be sure to have Malfoy and Malik rivalries wherever our dear maniac ends up._

_Kenmeishouri: You'll just have to wait and see ;p_

_Seyah Ishtar: _

_Yume Li: Thank you, thank you…I try…_

_Storm: Well that's a relief…_

_jak'idiot: Yeah…I shall remember that when I write the sorting scene._

_Spiritkitsune: Hehe…all good ideas. Yay! My name in Japanese…_

_DarkMagicianGirlDragonKnight: dictionary up above…and the hat thing is a good idea._

_You're all super appreciated! I hope I haven't disappointed you all. R/R Ja Minna!_


	7. Wands and Chaos

**Disclaimer: No characters or fictional places you recognize from either Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter belong to me. That said…on with the show…R/R**

_

* * *

Seto strode purposefully towards the end of the street where Ollivander's Wand Shop was located._

"_All that's left is our wands," Ryou said._

_Seto rolled his eyes, however any snappy retorts that he may have come up with were cut off by an explosion up ahead._

"_I'm having an odd sense of déjà vu," Seto muttered darkly as he saw black smoke billowing out of a shop up ahead._

"_Oh no…please don't tell me…" Ryou moaned. All explosions tended to lead to either Malik or Bakura, one way or another._

_Glaring at the looming cloud, Seto picked up his pace, followed closely by Ryou._

**Wands and Chaos**

The bell on the door tinkled as Yugi and Malik entered Ollivander's Wand shop. It was a cramped and dusty room with walls lined to the ceiling in boxes of what could only be wands. Overall it had a rather creepy air about it.

"Well this is certainly a cheery place," Malik muttered.

"Should we ring the bell?" Yugi asked in a hushed tone.

"What bell?"

"That bell."

"Where?"

"On the desk."

"Oh," Malik said, spotting the object in the middle of the room for the first time.

"Can I help you?" came a voice from behind Yugi, cutting off whatever he had been about to say and causing both him and Malik to jump a foot in the air.

"Don't do that!" Malik exclaimed, clutching his chest. "You'll give a guy a heart attack!"

"Not that it wouldn't be deserved," Yugi muttered.

"Hey, I heard that," Malik said, glaring.

Mr. Ollivander cleared his throat, stopping the argument. "I assume you're here for wands," he said.

"Uh yeah, right," Malik said. He was slightly creeped-out by this odd man.

"Which one of you would like to go first?" Mr. Ollivander asked.

Malik, always the brave one volunteered…Yugi. "He'll go!"

"Hey!" Yugi started to protest, but Mr. Ollivander had already turned his attention (and tape measure) toward him.

"Hold out your wand arm please," Mr. Ollivander said.

"Um, I'm right handed if that's what you mean," Yugi said.

"Yes, now hold out your arm," Mr. Ollivander said, beginning his measurements as soon as Yugi did so. He eventually left the tape measure to look through boxes. However, the tape measure continued on its jolly way measuring the most obscure things. It had just finished measuring the length of Yugi's right earlobe when Mr. Ollivander returned with an armful of boxes.

"That's enough," he said, causing the tape measure to crumple to the floor in a heap. He pulled out a wand and handed it to Yugi. "There now, give it a wave."

Yugi did so, feeling extremely foolish. No sooner had he begun to move his arm then Mr. Ollivander took the wand back and handed him another. This went on for quite some time with varying reactions ranging from nothing to some rather nasty fires and minor explosions. With each passing wand, Mr. Ollivander seemed to grow more excited. Malik, however, was growing bored.

Looking around the shop for something to entertain himself with, Malik spotted the tape measure lying on the ground. Walking over, he poked it with his foot. Nothing happened. Braver now, he kicked it harder. This time the tape measure reacted…and wrapped itself around his foot.

"Um…" Malik said, watching as the tape measure began to wind its way around his leg. "I don't think this is a good sign. Ow!"

The tape measure had begun squeezing his leg.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Get it off, get it off, get it off, get it off, get it off!" Malik began screaming, running around the shop. This got the attention of the other two.

"No! Stop!" Mr. Ollivander called as Malik began running towards a pile of wands. He was distracted, however by a sudden fire on his robes caused by Yugi's latest wand.

Malik tripped and fell right into the pile of wands, causing various reactions. One caused a flock of rabid pigeon/bat hybrids to appear and begin chasing Yugi around the room, several others went off like firecrackers, causing a large explosion that knocked out the windows of the shop and sent clouds of smoke billowing out into the street.

With a wave of his wand, Mr. Ollivander cleared the smoke from the shop. With another wave, the rabid pigeons/bat hybrids turned back into dust bunnies. Turning, he looked at Malik, who was holding a sparking wand.

"Well it seems we've found your friend's wand," Mr. Ollivander said to Yugi, clapping his hands together. Yugi facefaulted.

Malik sat there, charred black, hand wrapped firmly around the wand. He let out one cough before passing out.

Yugi sweatdropped. Malik was a disaster magnet. No doubt about it.

The bell signaling the opening of the shop door tinkled. Yugi and Mr. Ollivander turned to see an annoyed Seto (with orange hair) and an exasperated looking Ryou enter.

"Seto…what happened to your hair?" Yugi asked.

"It's Kaiba, not Seto," Seto ground out. "And he," he pointed at Malik, "happened to my hair."

Ryou walked over to Malik, now wearing an uncharacteristic smirk that signaled Bakura's appearance. He kicked Malik's foot. "Out like a light," he said. "You were right…all explosions do lead to Malik…one way or another."

"No kidding," Yugi said, casting an exasperated look at the passed-out gravekeeper, before allowing Yami to take over, casting a dubious look at the tomb robber who was still poking Malik.

**/Why are these wizards letting Malik near these "wand" things again/** Yami asked.

_/Good question/_ Yugi said. /_I have no idea/_

"Monkeys!" exclaimed Malik, sitting bolt upright and looking around wildly. Looking down at his feet, he noticed the tape measure that had fallen off his leg. With a scream, he jumped into Bakura's arms. "Evil demon tape measure!"

"Idiot," Bakura muttered, dropping Malik, who ended up landing on his foot. "Yeowch!"

"Who's the idiot now?" Yami asked.

"Oh shut up," Bakura said, kicking Malik off of his foot and stalking over to the other side of the room.

"Ahem," Mr. Ollivander said, catching everyone's attention. "Shall we continue?"

"Right," Yugi said, returning to control. "Next wand."

_

* * *

Wow, I'm really getting these chapters out quickly now…I'm surprising even myself. Okay folkies, you saw the poll results. I'm not gonna put them up this chapter, but the polls are still open until they reach Hogwarts. In other words, the chapter they're on the train will be the last chapter for these polls, so make your opinions known! Anyway, thanks to each and every one of my loyal reviewers. On to the review responses…I will not be responding to every one this time, as some are just votes, but it doesn't mean you aren't appreciated!_

_Nunofyorbiz: gets evil gleam in eye Hehehe…you have set the evil Malfoy-torture inspiration bunnies to work…Tyahahahahahahahahahahahaha:)_

_OBSESSED Uber Rei: Hey, I'm just happy for the review! Anyway, better late than never as I always say…_

_Akio-chan: Hm…maybe I should've…ah well, I can do something with that later…evil grin :)_

_Kayono: You know…I wonder that, too…_

_Nachzes Black-Rider: Heh…how'd you guess? It was actually gonna be shorter, but I suddenly got struck by inspiration (and caps lock, lol)_

_Thanks also to everyone else: Kitsu3, Chelley Angel, jeronimo, darklordblood, Ryzel, Fogkit, Silverwitch07, and yugiohfreak_

_Thanks every one of you for your encouragement…Ja Minna!_


	8. Gringott's and Morons

**Disclaimer: I am not J.K.Rowling, nor am I Takahashi-san. You can make your own calculations from there.**

_

* * *

They had just gotten back from Ollivander's when Ryou called Yugi over to talk to him. He motioned the shorter boy into another room off of the main pub and closed the door to the private dining parlor behind him. Yugi looked at him questioningly._

"_I'm sorry, Yugi, but is Yami listening?" Ryou asked._

_Yugi looked like he was deep in thought for a moment before snapping back to reality. "He is," he said._

"_Good," Ryou said. "It's about Bakura."_

"_What about him?" Yugi asked._

"_Well, he and Malik are…making plans for this evening…"_

**Gringott's and Morons**

That night after everyone had gone to bed, and the Leaky Cauldron had closed up for the night, two figures made their way quickly and silently through the brick barrier into Diagon Alley. Turning right, they made their way down the cobble stone street towards the grand white building at the far end…Gringott's Bank. They stopped before the magnificent structure, white faintly glowing, even in the dark, giving off an aura of magic. Neither were phased.

"You're sure this place is supposed to have security to rival the tombs?" one figure hissed to the other.

"That's what the book said," the other said mysteriously.

"Hold on, Malik…since when do you read?" the thief asked impatiently.

"Hey! I read quite well, you know!" Malik huffed.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you read on a regular basis…I'm just commenting on the fact that I've never seen you open a book," Bakura said.

"Smart ass," Malik muttered.

"Dumb ass," Bakura countered.

"Old man."

"Prissy boy."

"Hey! That was below the belt."

"I'll show you below the belt if you don't shut up. We're trying _not_ to be heard, damn it. Not wake the whole wizarding community. Secrecy is key," Bakura said.

"Quit lecturing me, you're starting to sound like the Pharaoh, sheesh," Malik said, mocking Yami's voice. "'Don't do this, don't do that…' I'll have you know that I know very well how to get past curses and break into places."

Bakura glowered. In a huff, he walked past Malik and up the stairs, followed by a muttering grave keeper.

_Enter stranger, but take heed,_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn,_

_So if you seek beneath our floors,_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Stranger you have been warned, beware,_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

The two thieves eyes lit up.

"It's like an open invitation saying: 'steal me'," Malik said, dreamily.

"Well, let's see what 'more than treasure' is," Bakura said, activating the Millennium Ring hidden beneath his shirt and entering through the door.

Malik tapped his foot impatiently waiting for Bakura to open the door. He didn't have to wait long and soon the two make their way in and down one of the tunnels.

"It's like a maze in here," Malik said.

"Feeling at home, Malik?" Bakura asked.

"Shut up," Malik said, glaring.

Bakura snickered, holding up the Millennium Ring for light.

"So where are we going first, Mr. Expert?" Malik asked with sarcasm.

"Down that tunnel," he pointed to an opening to their right, where the Ring's spindles had begun to point.

"And how do we choose a vault?" Malik asked skeptically.

"We'll follow the Ring, stupid," Bakura said plainly.

"Okay, well get pointing ring bearer," Malik said with mock reverence.

Bakura turned around to look at Malik in annoyance. "You got that from a book," he said.

"Ha!" Malik exclaimed. "I told you I read!"

Grumbling, Bakura held up the ring and began following its pull, Malik close behind.

Soon they came to a halt in front of a large stone door.

"I guess we're here," Malik said.

Bakura resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"So how are we going to do this?" Malik asked.

"I'm going to touch the door and get sucked in. If the loot looks like it's worth it, I'll open the door from the inside," Bakura said.

"Right, well I'll just stand guard," Malik said.

Bakura ignored him and went up to the door, allowing himself to be pulled in. Once in, he used the Millennium Ring to light up the small chamber filled with riches. The thief's eyes lit up. "Jackpot."

Malik hummed as he paced back and forth in front of the door, waiting for the spirit's signal.

The vault door opened, revealing Bakura covered in what looked like it had come from a pirate's booty. Crowns adorned his head while the rest of his body was decked out in chains and the like.

"Don't take too long," Bakura warned seriously. "I sense something coming this way."

"Right," Malik said, hurrying in and following the thief's example.

Soon the two, laden down with stolen treasure, began their journey back. They had accomplished their task…they had broken into the wizarding world's bank, which was known for its security, but before they could start celebrating, they noticed something odd…

"Hey Bakura," Malik said, pausing. "Is it me or is it getting hotter?"

"It's probably just you," Bakura said. "But we should hurry up just incase. I'd advise being ready with the Rod."

Malik nodded and tightened his grip around his priceless treasure.

Carefully the two followed the Millennium Ring's guidance, watching for traps or watchers. When they encountered none, both started to get worried.

"We should've encountered something by now," Malik whispered.

"Shh," Bakura hushed him, pushing him against the wall, then flattening himself against it. "I think we found what has been causing the heat."

Peering around the corner ever so slightly, Malik saw a large figure of what appeared to be a dragon. That wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the fact that it was looking right back at them, smoke pouring out of its nostrils.

"I think it saw us," Bakura whispered.

The dragon let out a roar and a burst of flame.

"Oh," Malik said.

"Shit," Bakura finished.

"RUN!" both screamed in unison, turning and following the Millennium Ring at top speed back down the corridors, through traps, and past more monsters.

"Why don't you summon something, Bakura," Malik screamed at the thief.

"Do you want to stop and look through my deck?" Bakura growled in response, keeping his eyes on what lay ahead. Twenty feet ahead lay salvation…the exit. "We're almost out!"

"That's great!" Malik exclaimed. "Because I think our pursuers are about to roast us!"

"Duck!" Bakura screamed, jumping behind a stalagmite just in time to miss being charred. Malik did the same behind another one.

Bakura darted out of his hiding place towards the exit, Malik right behind him. Malik grabbed his shirt a moment before impact and they both went right through the door. The sounds of a hard impact could be heard behind them, but they just kept on running back to the Leaky Cauldron.

Malik and Bakura snuck into the empty pub as quietly as they could. Tiptoeing around various objects, they were almost to the stairs when a light flickered on.

"Well, well," Yami said, glaring at the two who were charred and covered in molten gold and various other substances. "I see you two have returned. Have a pleasant stroll?"

"Oh shut up," both of the irate thieves exclaimed, turning and storming off up the stairs.

Yami just glared after them before heading up as well, allowing himself a smirk. He wondered if either of them had noticed the dragon he'd summoned.

_

* * *

Yes, Malik was referring to LotR in that one line._

_Okay, sorry peoples, but I'm being lazy at the moment and am not going to write review responses…and don't forget THE HOUSE POLLS ARE STILL OPEN! That was in caps for those who don't read these things._

_Thanks to: kenmeishouri, Hawk Chic, Darkrose 17, DarkMagicianGirlDragonKnight, edwardelricsgfHikari, gohan/videlgoten/trunkslover, SPUW Commander, Ruler of the eastern hemisphere, whatever, Nachzes Black-Rider, jak'idiot, SpiritKitsune, Akio-chan, nunofyorbiz, Yume Li, Atemu Yugi Lover 34, kayono_

_Oh and I am going to try and make the chapters longer after this. Ja Minna!_


	9. Buses and Brick Walls

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from YuGiOh or Harry Potter**

_

* * *

Ryou woke up, dead tired. Barely opening his eyes, he crawled out of bed and over to the dresser. Looking into the mirror, he nearly had a heart attack._

/Yami, why is there melted gold in my hair/ _Ryou asked mentally_. /And why is it singed at the bottom/

**/Urusai/** _Bakura muttered mentally._

**Chapter 9: Buses and Brick Walls**

Seto awoke sometime right before dawn to the birds making a ruckus outside his open window.

"Damn birds," Seto muttered, getting up. Still groggy, he looked in the mirror.

His hair had faded back to its usual brown, though a couple streaks of orange still showed through. Remembering the incident of the day before, Seto growled. He still needed to murder Malik. Maybe magic would have a purpose after all, Seto mused. He could use it to extract his revenge…

Yugi yawned and sat up. It was early morning, too early for his (or Yami's) tastes, but it was better to be up early than miss the train.

**/Good morning, aibou/** came the voice of Yami from his soulroom.

_/Morning Yami/_ Yugi replied mentally. _/You were up late last night/_

**/Bakura and Malik went out on a little escapade and I decided to wait for them to return/ **Yami said.

_/Is that why Kumouri dragon is sitting on the desk/_ Yugi asked, smirking slightly.

Yami just smirked as well. **/I wonder if they're up yet/**

Twenty minutes later found four tired and irritable adolescents sitting around a small table in the eating area of the Leaky Cauldron. Yami smirked from his soulroom at Malik and Bakura who looked dead on their feet and worse for wear, though he felt sorry for Ryou at having to put up with the Tomb Robber. Seto also seemed amused at this turn of events.

"You have melted gold in your hair," Seto had informed Malik when he had entered the room. Malik's only reply was to mutter something incoherent and cast a glare in Ryou's direction. It was soon after this that Bakura had taken over.

The arrival of the food distracted the table's inhabitants from the four-way glaring contest.

"So, our train leaves at eleven," Seto said. "That means we should probably leave at nine, nine thirty at the latest since we don't know how long it will take us to get there, or how long it will take to find the platform."

"9 ¾…" Yugi muttered, pulling out his ticket and looking at it. "It's unbelievable. I wonder if we have to tap bricks like here."

"While we're here, somebody should ask," Seto said, standing. "And now, I am going to go pack. We'll meet back down here at nine."

Yugi nodded, Bakura's head dropped off his hand and into his plate, and Malik just halfheartedly snorted. Not commenting, Seto turned and left. The others followed suit soon after.

_/Hey Yami/_ Yugi said as he packed up his school things into his new trunk.

**/Yes Yugi/** Yami asked, appearing on the edge of the bed.

"What do you think this new school is going to be like?" Yugi asked quietly, so as not to be heard.

'I'm not sure,' Yami said. 'It depends upon the people who are there.'

Yugi nodded. "To be honest, I'm a little nervous. I've never been away from home for an entire school year before. The longest I've ever been away was Duelist Kingdom."

Yami nodded. 'I'm sure you'll be fine,' he said. 'There are sure to be people there you'll like.' **/Perhaps in more ways than one/**

"Yami!" exclaimed Yugi, turning red. He was just happy that Yami had chosen to say that mentally. You never knew when Bakura might be listening in.

Yami just smirked at his partner who busied himself packing.

Malik looked around his room. It was a mess. Clothes, books, and other various unidentifiable objects lie scattered around the room. His trunk was lying open, half full of junk already. With a sigh, he began picking things up and throwing them into it. If they got wrinkled, too bad, if they got broken, there was sure to be a spell to fix them.

In the room next door, Kaiba was scanning his room, making sure he hadn't forgotten anything. Satisfied that he had everything, he stacked his last pile of supplies neatly into his trunk and closed it, choosing to ignore the loud noises and cursing in multiple languages coming from the room next to his. He quirked an eyebrow…sometimes he truly wondered about Malik…

At a quarter to nine, Seto made his way downstairs to wait for the others and get directions from the inn keeper, Tom. They would probably be late so me might as well do something useful while he waited.

Malik glared at his trunk. He had gotten everything into it in a matter of minutes, but now it refused to close. Being the genius that he is, he had tried dragging the dresser over and laying it on top of the trunk, but that plan had flopped…right onto his foot. Next he had tried jumping on the trunk, but he had lost his footing and fallen on his head. Then he had gotten his most brilliant idea: control the minds of some random people and get them to close it. This brilliant scheme had failed, however, when he realized it would mean he would have to go find them first. And so he stood there, in his room, glaring at his trunk.

There was a knock on the door.

"Hey Malik, you almost ready?" came Yugi's voice.

"Yeah, yeah," Malik said, "Just a minute."

The door opened. Yugi sweatdropped.

"You know that would be a whole lot easier if you hadn't just thrown everything in it," Yugi said.

"Urusai," Malik said.

"Hey, are you guys ready?" Ryou asked, sticking his head in the door. The he saw Malik's trunk, "Oh dear."

Yugi turned to face Ryou. "Hey Ryou, why don't you and Malik sit on it and I'll close it," he said.

"Alright," Ryou said, leaving his own trunk in the doorway next to Yugi's and going over to the trunk.

Muttering something in Arabic, Malik sat down next to Ryou.

"Bounce a little bit," Yugi said, trying to latch it.

They did so.

"Almost got it…there," Yugi exclaimed triumphantly.

"Finally," Malik muttered, grabbing the handle and dragging it towards the door, following Yugi and Ryou downstairs where Kaiba was waiting for them.

"About time," Kaiba said. "The bus is waiting."

The three exchanged looks, but Kaiba didn't elaborate, he just lead them outside where a large triple-decker bright purple bus waited. They were speechless.

"'owdy," the young man at the door said, bowing. "Let me get those for ya."

Yugi, Ryou, and Malik followed Seto onto the bus while the man got their luggage. Seto sat down in a chair near a bracket on the wall. The others followed suit, sitting in random chairs that were _not_ held down.

"Um," Yugi said, looking apprehensive. "These aren't anchored down."

"I know," Seto said, holding onto the bracket.

Getting the idea, the others scrambled for the nearest one, unfortunately, only Ryou made it in time and Malik and Yugi went flying backwards. Yugi landed on an overturned chair, upside down, on top of Malik whose face was in the ground.

"Mif foffa fee" Malik said, as best he could.

Yugi snapped out of his daze and rolled off the Egyptian with a grunt. Standing, Malik brushed himself off. He began to walk forward. The driver hit the breaks, sending Malik flying again, this time into a pile of chairs at the front of the bus. Yugi managed to grab onto the stair railing. Both fell to the ground when the bus stopped stopping.

Dizzy and disoriented, Malik stood up again and staggered over to where Seto and Ryou were. Yugi walked over as well. Some lady with a bunch of cats got onto the bus and went up the stairs. As soon as she was out of view, the bus took off again. In a panic, Malik latched onto Seto while Yugi grabbed Ryou. Surprised, both let go, sending all four of them flying into a pile at the back of the bus, which stopped again before they had had a chance to dislodge themselves, sending all four of them flying to the front where they crashed into the driver shield and fell into a heap on the floor on top of and underneath various debris.

"King's Cross Station," the bus hand announced.

"Kaiba," Malik said, face smashed into the ground again. "We are **never** riding this thing again."

"I agree," Seto grunted.

A few minutes later, the four stood outside the train station waiting for Malik to stop hugging the ground. All three looked embarrassed.

"I think we should just pretend we don't know him," Ryou suggested.

"Yeah," Yugi agreed.

Seto didn't say anything, just started walking. The other three followed suit. Realizing that he was being left, Malik jumped up and ran after them.

"Wait for me!" he called.

The other three just kept walking. He'd catch up eventually. Seto lead the group towards platforms 9 and 10.

"We have to run through the barrier between these two platforms," Seto explained.

"Why don't we have Malik go first to make sure it's safe," Bakura suggested.

Seto and Yami agreed. Malik caught up, panting.

"Thanks for stopping guys," he snapped between gasps for air. The other three just ignored him and began pushing him toward the barrier. "Um guys? What are you doing?"

"Using you as a test subject," Yugi said.

Malik looked nervous.

"We need you to run into that brick wall," Seto said.

"You WHAT," Malik exclaimed, however, the other three took advantage of his moment of surprise and pushed him toward the wall, screaming.

"Look, he disappeared," Bakura said. "I guess that means it's safe for us."

Nodding, Seto went next, followed by Bakura then Yami.

_

* * *

That's all Folks! Hope you've enjoyed this chapter and don't forget to review. **House Polls are still open**, but this is the **last chapter**. Next chapter's poll count is final. Results so far are posted at the bottom. Wow, I'm amazed...this is oficially the longest story I've ever written...definately longest I've ever posted, it passed that mark a while ago...Anyway...  
_

_Thanks to my Reviewers: Setoglomper, Nachzes Black-Rider, nunofyorbiz, kenmeishouri, yugiohfreak, jak'idiot, kikyou-sama, kayono, Chelley Angel, yllom21, and Silverwitch07_

_You're all appreciated, and if I start to ignore your favorite character, let me know…I'll try to keep "screen time" even because I know not everyone likes the same characters. Anyway, on to the Polls…_

_Poll Results are as follows: _

_Malik- 1st: Slytherin (which is so far in the lead it's not really even worth mentioning the other two), 2nd: Gryffindor, 3rd: Ravenclaw…No one voted for this house_

_Ryou/Bakura- 1st: Gryffindor, 2nd: Slytherin, 3rd: Ravenclaw_

_Yugi: Gryffindor…the other two aren't even worth mentioning. The other two houses only got about a half a vote a piece._

_Seto: 1st: Gryffindor, followed extremely closely by 2nd: Ravenclaw, 3rd: Slytherin_

Japanese:

Yami- Dark

Urusai- Shut Up (lit: Noisy)

Aibou- Partner

_Don't forget to leave a review. And flamers are bakas. Ja Minna!_


	10. The Hogwarts Express

**Disclaimer: I don't own YGO or HP**

_Sorry there's no intro ot this chapter, but I couldn't think of anything for this one. This chapter gave me a lot of grief. I think I started it at least 5 times, and then when I was working on my dad's computer it crashed right after I had printed out what I had (I hadn't saved it)…so I had to retype a whole bunch of this…5 pages worth of typing…but now it's here. So this is it…the house polls are now closed and the long awaited arrival at Hogwarts has arrived. Read, Review, and Enjoy…oh and go watch the trailer for the new HP movie…it looks AWESOME!_

**

* * *

Chapter Ten: The Hogwarts Express**

Malik glared at his comrades as they appeared through the barrier.

"Thanks guys," Malik snapped. "What would I ever do without caring friends like you?"

Yugi and Ryou (who were back in control) looked sheepish. Seto didn't acknowledge him, he just brushed by. "Don't follow me," he said, walking across the platform to the train.

"Ja-hosh," Malik muttered, following suit. Yugi and Ryou followed as well.

After a bit of struggling, they got their luggage onto the train and began looking for a compartment. It didn't take too long before they found an empty one and claimed it as their own. As soon as they were settled—Yugi and Malik at the windows, and Ryou next to Yugi—Yami appeared standing in front of the window.

**/Bloody show off/** Bakura grumbled.

_/What/_ Ryou asked.

**/Yami/** Bakura said, **/He's out of his body/**

_/I don't see anything/_ Ryou said, looking around the compartment.

**/You can't, he's on an astral plane/** Bakura said.

_/Oh/_ Ryou paused _/I don't get it/_

**/A yami and Hikari are basically the light and dark of the same soul, or reflection. When the two halves are in sync with each other, the body will allow the reflection to separate. Like some people are able to astral project. Right now the pharaoh can only project himself on the astral plane—like a normal human spirit—which makes him invisible to most except for ghosts, cats, and his Hikari/** Bakura explained. **/Eventually the body will share its energy with him and allow him to become corporeal/**

Ryou gave him a blank stare.

Bakura sighed. **/It means that someday they will be completely separate/**

_/Oh…and why can't you do that/_ Ryou asked _/The astral projection thing I mean/_

Bakura snorted. **/Be serious Ryou. We're complete opposites. Neither of us have any desire to be in sync with the other. That would require one or both of us to change/**

Ryou thought about this for a moment.

"RYOU!"

"Huh, wha?" Ryou asked, snapping out of his daze.

Yugi gave him a mock glare. "I've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes."

"Oh sorry, just thinking…" Ryou said, "And talking to my yami."

"You shouldn't do that you know," Yugi said, then added: "Spacing out like that when you're talking. People will get suspicious."

"I know," Ryou sighed. "I'm just used to living by myself and only being around people who know about…them most of the time."

"Yeah I understand," Yugi said, "but I was talking to Yami earlier and he had a good point…"

"Yes?" Ryou asked.

"Well, we don't know anything about these people or how much they know about certain things," Yugi began.

"Or if they can be trusted," Malik interjected.

"So you want to keep the Items and spirits a secret," Ryou finished. "I had that same thought earlier. I don't exactly want my activities limited because I have a kleptomaniac spirit living in my jewelry."

Yugi chuckled.

**/I am _not_ a klepto/** Bakura grumbled.

Rou grinned. Malik was about to make a comment when the door opened.

"Oh sorry. I didn't realize anyone was in here," said a girl with bushy brown hair. She was flanked by two boys, one with red hair and the other with black hair.

"That's okay," Yugi said. "You can sit here if you want."

The three exchanged glances, then the red-head shrugged. "Sure," the girl said, sitting next to Malik. "I'm Hermione by the way, Hermione Granger."

"Ron Weasley," Ron said, looking at Malik and Ryou oddly. "You two have gold in your hair."

"Don't remind me," Ryou groaned.

"Ron," Hermione reprimanded.

"What? They do," Ron defended.

"That's no reason to point and stare," Hermione said.

"Don't mind them, they're always like this," the black-haired boy said to the three foreigners. "I'm Harry Potter."

"I've read about you," Ryou said.

"Really?" Yugi seemed interested.

"Yes, he's the Boy-Who-Lived, he defeated the Dark Lord Voldemort when he was a baby," Ryou said, not noticing when Ron flinched. "He's really famous over here."

"Don't say his name," Ron said.

"Oh Ron, honestly, it's just a name," Hermione snapped.

"It's not just a name! It's-it's _his_ name," Ron whispered the last part.

Hermione just groaned.

"So you defeated this Dark Lord?" Yugi asked Harry.

"I wouldn't exactly say defeated," Harry began. "He's still alive…sort of. We've encountered him a couple of times since…"

They let the subject drop.

"So what are your names? I don't remember seeing you around school before," Hermione said.

"We're new," Malik said. "My name's Malik Ishtal."

"I'm Ryou Bakura," Ryou said.

"Mutou Yugi," Yugi said.

"He means Yugi Mutou," Malik corrected.

"Yugi Mutou," Harry asked. "_The_ Yugi Mutou? From Japan? You're the winner of the Duelist Kingdom _and_ Battle City Duelmonsters tournaments! I've read about you in some of my cousin's magazines! You're like some kind of celebrity."

Malik snickered at the face Yugi was making.

Yugi sighed. "I can't go anywhere without at least one person knowing my name."

"I understand," Harry said. "But at least I think my fame is more localized, not that I ever get to get out of the country to find out, though. So if you're from Japan, where are you two from?"

"I'm from Japan as well," Ryou said. "I made it to the finals of the Battle City tournament, however I was the first to be eliminated. I fought Yugi in that battle."

"Wow, you must be pretty good to have made it that far," Harry said.

"I think I only won because most people are scared of my deck…I use zombie cards mostly," Ryou said.

The golden trio looked at him oddly.

"I get that a lot," Ryou sighed.

"Sorry," Harry said. "So what about you?" he looked at Malik.

"I'm from Egypt, the Valley of Kings area," Malik said.

"But isn't it uninhabited out there?" Ron asked.

"Mostly, but there are a few scattered villages," Malik said.

"Right, I'd almost forgotten," Ron said. "I went to Egypt last year to visit my brother Bill. He's a curse-breaker for Gringott's bank."

"Oh really?" Malik asked darkly.

"Yeah," Ron said, oblivious to Malik's tone.

"I see," Malik said. "I should hope no misfortune befalls him in the tombs."

"Nah, Bill's a professional," Ron said.

"We'll see," Malik said.

"So were you in that Battle City tournament or whatever?" Ron asked.

"Yes I was," Malik said. "I faced off against Yugi in the final round."

"So you're really good then, huh?" Ron asked.

"Yes he is," Yugi said.

"So what is Duelmonsters anyway?" Ron asked.

"It's a card game that's super-popular in Japan," Harry said. "It's becoming pretty popular over here, too. You use the cards to duel with and you can use monsters or magic to defeat your opponent."

"Really?" Ron asked. "So it's like the muggle equivalent of a Wizard's duel?"

"I guess you could say so," Harry said. "Though with those holo-systems they have in Japan the game must seem pretty real, huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that," Yugi said.

"I still don't see what the big deal is about a game," Hermione sniffed.

"It's more than just a game," Malik exclaimed indignantly, then at a warning look from Yugi added: "To me. Anyone else who plays it would feel the same way."

Harry and Ron exchanged glances. Hermione, however, continued arguing with Malik. "It's a waste of time that won't get you anywhere in life," she snapped at the Egyptian.

"Just ignore her, she can't be reasoned with," Ron said, earning a glare from Hermione.

"Sounds like someone else we know," Malik said. "I wonder what became of Kaiba anyway?"

"Who knows," Yugi said. "He's probably off somewhere reading some book."

"Wait a minute," Hermione said. "Did you say 'Kaiba'? As in Seto Kaiba, the teenage CEO of Kaibacorp?"

"Yeah that's the cold-hearted arrogant bastard we're talking about," Malik said.

"You shouldn't talk about Kaiba like that," Yugi said. "He cares about Mokuba—"

"Big deal," Malik said. "He's still a cold-hearted arrogant—"

"He's a genius!" Hermione gushed. "An absolute genius! Is he here?"

"Yeah somewhere," Malik said, then muttered: "Unfortunately."

"He rebuilt Kaibacorp when he inherited the company," Hermione rattled on. "Do you know him? Can you introduce me," she begged Malik who looked shocked that anyone would want to meet Kaiba.

Ron rolled his eyes. "She's gone," he said. "This is just like Lockheart all over again."

"He is nothing like Lockheart," Hermione snapped, then turned back to Malik.

Malik sent Yugi and Ryou a pleading look that said plainly: "get her away from me". However, they were too busy enjoying the show to come to their friend's aid.

"Hey Ryou, you've got your cards, don't you? Why don't you do a reading to see if Malik will escape?" Yugi joked.

"What do you mean escape?" Hermione asked. "Wait a minute. Did you say reading? As in a Divination reading?" She huffed, "A highly faulty art if you ask me."

"Nobody did ask you," Ron snapped.

"And why are you defending it?" Hermione asked.

Ryou interrupted the would-be fight. "True it's not very precise, even to someone with a strong inner eye, but it can be useful if used by someone with the discipline and training who knows what they're doing and what to look for."

"True, but aren't true seers few and far between?" Hermione asked.

"It depends a lot upon background," Ryou explained. "For example certain religious magicks produce far more seers than any other branches, so there are actually more than you'd think out there. Most of them just know better than to mess with things beyond their control. Some don't want to bother, and others just don't care…Those who do practice may do so because they are just curious about what the future holds, or there are always those who are looking for some sort of advantage that they think they can be offered by knowing ahead of time what is to come. There are also a few who actually want to change the future…" he paused. "None of that really matters, though," he suddenly smiled. "So, anyone want their fortunes told?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, you signed up for Divination, right? I'm sure you'd love it…I'm know Trelawney'd love you."

"Who?" Ryou asked.

"The Divination teacher, Professor Trelawney," Hermione said. "An old fraud if there ever was one."

"Oh dear…I believe I did sign up for that class," Ryou sighed.

"Just to let you know, don't even bother trying to do it right, just make up a load of horrible stuff to happen to you for your predictions and you'll get full marks," Harry said.

"Just make sure you don't drown yourself twice or anything…that might look suspicious," Ron said. "After a while it gets hard to come up with new disiasters."

"Glad I signed up for it then," Malik said. "If that's all you have to do to pass."

"You just want to get out of doing the work," Ryou said.

"What's wrong with that?" Malik asked.

"You know, I actually signed up for Divination as well," Yugi said.

"I feel sorry for you all," Ron said. "Maybe you'll be in Gryffindor so you'll be with Harry and I…so what houses are you going to be in?"

The three looked clueless. "What?" Yugi asked.

"Hogwarts is divided into four house groups. Houses dorm together, eat together, and have classes together." Hermione began. "The houses are Gryffindor-the one we're in-, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. You are sorted into your houses by the sorting hat which is enchanted to know where you are best suited. Each house is known for certain attributes that the founders, who the houses are each named after, sought for in students. Gryffindor prized bravery, while Ravenclaw wanted the brightest, Hufflepuff would take any, but they are known for their loyalty, and Slytherin—"

"Is a bunch of evil gits who are into the dark arts," Ron said.

"Ron," Hermione admonished. "That's just the stereotype. Slytherin prized cunning and those with ambition. He also prized those with 'pureblood' as he called it."

"You can't deny the fact that all of our dark wizards have come out of Slytherin," Ron said.

"Not _all_ Slytherins are evil, Ron," Hermione said. "So that's basically life at Hogwarts. There are inter-house rivalries, the most pronounced of which is the one between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Basically Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are neutral, but all of the houses often band together against Slytherin. As for actual school functions, there is an inter-house cup that is awarded to the house with the most points at the end of the year—"

"And the Quidditch cup!" Ron exclaimed.

"What?" Yugi asked.

Ron looked aghast. "Quidditch! Don't tell me you've never head of Quidditch before?"

"Sorry, we just got our magic recently," Yugi said. "We've never studied magic before."

Ron looked determined. "We'll teach you all you need to know about Quidditch," he said. "You in, Harry?"

"Sure," Harry said and with that the two launched headlong into an explanation of the rules and gameplay. By the time they had finished, the three looked even more confused than when they had started. Hermione came to their rescue.

"Perhaps it would be better if they were to see a game in action, Ron," Hermione suggested.

"You're right," Ron said. "Just you wait! You're gonna love it!"

The compartment's six inhabitants fell into general conversation, pausing for a moment when the trolley came, then returning. This pleasant atmosphere continued until about mid-afternoon when the compartment door opened, revealing a rather nasty surprise.

"Malfoy," Harry said.

"Oh look, it's Potty," Draco drawled with mock concern. "You weren't attacked by those nasty rogue dementors that were in Diagon Alley this week, were you? Heaven knows we wouldn't want Dumbledore's golden boy to pass out in the middle of the street in broad daylight."

"What are you talking about," Harry asked.

"Honestly," Draco sneered, looking around the car. "Don't you people ever read? The Daily Prophet, front page. It's all over the news. Rogue dementors in Nockturn Alley, riots in Diagon, a break-in at Gringott's last night. I thought the mudblood had started having it—you!" he spotted Malik

"You!" Malik said, recognizing him. The two glared.

"Well it figures a rat like you would be found with this crowd," Draco sneered. "Hanging around with Weasel-boy must make you feel right at home."

"Why don't you crawl back into whatever hold you crawled out of?" Malik suggested. "It would be such a shame if you got exposed to the sun sometime."

Draco gave him a nasty look. "I know it was you and don't even bother denying it."

"Deny what?" Hermione asked.

"Was I talking to you, mudblood?" Draco bit back.

Hermione glared.

"I know it was you who broke into that vault at Gringott's," Draco accused.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, the break-in was at Gringott's! That would take powerful dark magic and Malik is just starting magic!" Hermione said.

"He said his family's been practicing magic for years," Draco retorted.

"That doesn't mean he has," Hermione snapped.

"I know he did it," Draco said.

Malik snorted. "Yeah right, and why should you even care unless it was your vault?"

Draco was silent for a moment, then he turned on heel and stormed out, pausing momentarily before he left. "I'd be careful if I were you, Ishtal. You will regret this day. I will find out everything!" turning, he stormed down the hall and out of sight.

"Sharmute!" Malik called after him, slamming the door and muttering darkly in Arabic.

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Whatever house he's in I am _not_ going in," Malik declared.

"Famous last words," Bakura smirked. "So, I take it that was someone you know."

"I met him in Diagon Alley," Malik said.

"And by 'met' do you mean 'stole from' or 'got into a brawl with'?" Bakura asked.

"Kul khara," Malik snapped.

"I don't speak Arabic," Bakura said.

Malik just shrugged. "Then I guess you'll just have to continue living in the dark."

"You know, we'll probably be arriving before too much longer," Hermione said, looking at the storm that was raging outside. "We should change."

"Right," Harry said. "Why don't you change first?"

"No, I'm the only girl and there's five of you," Hermione said. "I'll go find Ginny and change in her compartment."

Harry and Ron nodded. Hermione went to her trunk and got her uniform, then turned to the others. "Before I forget…" with a wave of her wand, the gold disappeared from first Malik's and then Bakura's hair. "There…I'll be back shortly."

Turning, Hermione left the compartment, leaving the boys to change.

Bakura felt his hair. "Damn…I think I'm going to like learning magic," he said with a smirk.

Before long Hermione arrived back. "I've just been up to talk to the conductor," Hermione said. "He said we should be arriving in about five more minutes."

Yugi felt a bit nervous as the train began to slow.

_/Well Yami, this is it/ _Yugi said.

**/You'll be fine, aibou/** Yami reassured his other half as the train came to a stop.

Harry grinned at the three. "Welcome to Hogwarts," he said.

_Off to another disaster with the items, no doubt,_ Malik thought, looking dubiously at the storm outside. _Ah well…one can always hope._

_

* * *

Well there it is folks, I told you I would try to make my chapters longer, so here's part one of the Arrival to Hogwarts…Stay Tuned for Part Two. You may be wondering what happened to Seto during the train ride, well, next chapter will answer that, so please don't bite my head off any of you Seto fans out there, I promise we will get to see him next chapter. And now I suppose you're wondering the poll results, ne? Well here they are._

_Yugi-Gryffindor_

_Seto-Ravenclaw_

_Ryou-Gryffindor_

_Malik-Slytherin_

Arabic Dictionary:

Ja-hosh: Jackass

Sharmute: Fool, Bastard

Kul Khara: Shut up, lit: eat shit (used by young levantine men) /now I know Malik's not levantine, but I thought the phrase fit well.../

Curses and definitions taken from the Alternative Arabic Dictionary...review and ask if you want the URL

_Thanks to each of my reviewers who I am too lazy to go back and name at this time...don't worry, you're still appreciated, I'll make sure to mention y'all next chapter. Ja! _

_Review and No Flames_

_ (Over 3000 words...hope it's not _too_ short. lol)_


	11. The Hogwarts Express II

Welcome, one and all to my WAAAAAAAAY overdue chapter eleven…Forgive me, I'm slow ''''' R/R…A/N at bottom. Not my best chapter to date, but I hope you can get some enjoyment out of it, especially all of you Seto fans out there. Oh and this chapter is completely Seto torture, so if you want to skip right on to the A/N you have been warned.

_

* * *

Seto Kaiba walked across the busy platform, leaving Yugi and his group behind. He didn't want to be in their presence any longer than necessary. Who knew what he might pick up from them? It was just better to play it safe, and he was no fool, unlike Yugi. Climbing onto the train, the CEO began his search for an empty compartment. He found one and claimed it, running off anyone who dared attempt to be friendly with his glare._

_It wasn't long before the train started moving. This was the beginning of troubles for Seto Kaiba, for not long after the train had left the platform, the compartment door opened and a pair of red heads—twins—walked in._

**Chapter Eleven: The Hogwarts Express II**

Once upon a time things made sense. There was order in the world, and Seto Kaiba knew exactly what was going on. Then Yugi Mutou appeared and turned everything topsy turvy. Suddenly there was magic and ghosts. At first Seto hadn't believed any of it, but then other people had come along and now this, the ultimate insult…

Seto Kaiba glared at the two miscreants standing before him.

"I think we used too strong a spell Fred," George, one of the notorious Weasley twins (as Seto learned _after_ they had turned him into a canary) said. "The transformation's lasting too long."

_That's it_, Seto thought. _I am _never_ accepting _anything_ from any of these "wizards" again!_

Fed up with these wizards and their poultry, Seto decided to put this situation to his advantage. That was what he did. He _was_ Seto Kaiba after all. Taking aim, he began pecking the two red heads without mercy.

"Let's get out of here!" George said, pulling Fred out of the door.

"Thanks for volunteering," Fred called before closing the door behind him.

_I _will _kill them,_ Seto silently vowed (it's hard to talk when you're a canary after all). _I will hunt them down and kill them…slowly and painfully._

Several hours and one molt later found one very pissed Japanese CEO stalking down the hall of the train.

"Where are they?" Seto muttered under his breath as he glanced through the glass doors of the compartments he passed. So far no luck and he had searched half of the train. Growling in frustration, he almost missed a flash of red hair as he passed yet another set of compartments. Doing an about face, he slammed open the door. The red hair didn't turn to either of the twins, however, and instead belonged to a girl who looked like she could be related to them.

"Um, hi…" the red head said nervously. "Can we help you?"

"I'm looking for Fred and George Weasley," Seto said darkly.

The girl sighed in exasperation. "What did they do this time?" she asked. "Never mind, I don't want to know…I'm Ginny by the way."

"Kaiba," Seto said curtly. Turning to leave, he ran into two identical grinning faces.

"Seto!" George exclaimed, as if they were old friends.

Seto growled, resisting the urge to hit either of them.

"Thanks for finding him for us sis," Fred said.

"Hey, what happened to your—" Ginny began, but was cut off by Fred closing the door.

"Sorry for our behavior earlier," George said with an all too innocent smile.

"Yeah, we didn't mean to be rude," Fred said. "We just like to pull pranks."

Seto continued to glare at the duo. Turning, Fred and George began walking back down the hall the way Seto had come. Resisting the urge to hit them—yet—Seto followed.

"Hey Seto, did you see the Daily Prophet this morning?" Fred asked, brandishing a paper at him.

"No," Seto said. "I have not seen any English newspapers since I arrived."

"It's rather interesting," Fred said. "Here," he tossed it at him.

"Think of this as a gesture of friendship," George said, "To make up for the canary cream earlier."

Seto caught the paper and glanced at the front cover and suppressed a twitch. He would have to show this to the schizo trio later.

"Here you are," Fred said, stopping and opening the compartment door for Seto.

Seto nodded curtly and walked in. The first thing he realized was that this was _not_ his compartment. Cursing his own lack of attention, he tried the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"Hoo-oo"

Turning around slowly, Seto came face to face with several owls.

"Shimatta."

_

* * *

Ta-da! And that's all folks…I decided not to make this as long as I was originally going to in order to get it out quicker. Sorry this one gave me so much grief, but I finally managed to get through it…hope you liked. The room with the owls was courtesy of Silverwitch07 who has been trying to help inspire me with this chapter. Thanks for the lovely idea SW…I will hopefully be getting more out soon. Now, I have an important announcement…_

Okay, I know I had you all vote on the houses, but after reviewing the choices I've decided I'm going to switch Seto to Slytherin. I have my reasons which are as follows:

If I don't move somebody, the houses will be the same as in Skyla Doragono's stories and I want to keep away from other stories as much as possible.

Out of them all, Seto makes the most sense to move. As was mentioned in one review, although he may be smart, he's also ambitious (You'd have to be to be CEO of an international, multi-million dollar corporation) which would make him a prime candidate.

It'll be easier to include him and not have these long pauses if there are only two houses two write.

So…there you have it. Seto will now officially be put in Slytherin. Sorry all of you who wanted Seto to be a Ravenclaw, please forgive me.

And now…a thank you!

Silverwitch07, Atemu Yugi Lover34, edwardelricsgfHikari, Satra, kitsu3, kayono, Serenity Meowth, Chelley Angel, winged dragon of Auset, ra's image, kitroku, -glomps Yuugi-, The Violent Tomboy, kikyou-sama, kenmeishouri, donthaveaname, jak'idiot, Dartz'LoyalServant, Kimpatsu no Hoseki, Alyssa-Anime-Angel, Kikyou's killer, Tira's Host, JewelValentine, gohan/videlgoten/trunkslover, Namonaki Pharaoh, chibikuro rose-sama, pointe master, XxXMe Need A LifeXxX, Vegeta the 3rd…

Nachzez Black-Rider: Sorry to disappoint you Nachzes, it's just a lot easier this way…I also don't wanna be a copycat.

Setoglomper: Ahem…and now—since it wasn't in the chapter—a toast.

_Malik: Literally._

_Seto: -cackles evilly, holding a flaming stick-_

_Draco: -tied to a chair and gagged with duct tape- Mhummu!_

_Seto: -starts whacking him repeatedly with flaming stick, still cackling-_

I think the owls finally got to him…_-whistles innocently and moves on to next review-_

Peter Kim: What I meant to say was that he uses _mostly_ undead cards…I was including fiends in that statement although it may not have come out the way I wanted it to. Gomen.

Atem's Queen of The Nile: _-whistles and dons a fireproof suit-_ Now I feel safer about answering your review…please don't kill me…can I bribe you by any chance with a cyber cookie?

yamimakai: _-shrugs-_ the spelling I use is not as much for "correctness" as a matter of personal preference, but it depends on how technical we want to get…it's actually Ishitaru in the raw/sub format, although "r" is pronounced "l" in Japanese, which is why I go with the spelling Ishtal instead of the Americanized Ishtar or the phonetic Ishitaru/Ishtalu. Thank you for your concern, though.

DarkMagicianGirlMana: _-salutes-_ Aye aye captain. Torture will commence shortly.

Samee: I'm running into the whole copy thing myself…I hope you get your story out soon, I'd love to read it!

J: Thanks for your review and strong argument (I enjoy being challenged once in a while). I think you see the results…I decided to look through the anime/manga and came to a decision.

Holy Mistress: _-grins-_ I'm glad to hear you'll be putting those words to good use.

equilla: _-evil smile- _How'd you guess?

Silver Illusionist: More snapped Kaiba, eh? I'll see what I can do.

_Oh, and if any of you think you are any good at writing news articles, review or email me and let me know. I'm absolutely horrible at that sort of thing, so if any of you would like to help me out, it would be much appreciated. Ja!_

Incase any of you have forgotten, Shimatta  shit

Also, were you wondering about the owls? Well it was mentioned in the 3rd book about Lupin going up to the front to send a letter ahead by owl, so I'm guessing that there are at least a few school owls along for the ride…


	12. The Arrival

Hi everyone, I'm alive! is sitting in a coffin Erm, more or less…hehe, anyway, welcome back, one and all, to chapter 12 of my story, Yami no Kokoro. And now a special thanks to Atemu Yugi Lover34 who wrote the news article…DOUMO ARIGATOU! Heh, now…on with the fic…

_**

* * *

The Daily Prophet**_

_Mayhem in Diagon Alley_

_Early today many reports were filed about women getting their purses stolen. Although the culprit still hasn't been caught several eye-witnesses reported seeing an exotic looking teen in the vicinity at the time of the reported robberies._

_Later explosions were heard in (according to witnesses) the Diagon Alley area. The Accidental Magical Reversal Squad was called out and they found some dynamite and random fireworks. Still no clues were found to give who the delinquent is. Officials say they will continue looking around the area until they are sure it's safe._

_On another note a couple dozen souls have went missing today in Nocturn Alley. Officials guessed dementors are the cause of the trouble. But it they are why were they in Nocturn Alley? Only two explanations can be found. Either the ministry had sent them or has the ministry loss control of them?_

_Gringott's was also broken into and robbed. Goblins have no clue how or exactly when this occurred, for they had been working at the time. The goblins say that about 300 teens came in here alone so they suspect some exotic foreigners that had passed by. Another accusation is that dark wizards have started using teens to get to what they want. Officials say that this statement is preposterous and that the Dark Wizards would have nothing to do with teen involvement. But if Dark Wizards have broken in the Ministry suspects it's the same ones from the World Cup incident, but since little is known and hardly any evidence supports this theory they say it's very doubtful._

_With all these attacks today people are now questioning if the Ministry of Magic is losing its touch with security. Since what happened with the World Cup incident and most recently the occurrences in Diagon Alley people all over are starting to fear coming out to wizarding events. Currently the Minister is refusing to answer any questions or comment. As soon as more information is given or found we'll keep you posted._

**Chapter Twelve: The Arrival**

The thunderstorm raged as the students exited the Hogwarts Express, the older students running as quickly as they could through the crowd toward the awaiting carriages, first years milling about in confusion as to what to do next. Over by the station, under the overhang, three foreign transfer students huddled together watching the crowd, trying to decide what to do next. So engrossed were they with their conversation, that they didn't notice a tall brunet heading their way.

"Yugi."

Said boy jumped and turned around at the sound of Seto's voice.

"Seto!" Yugi started. "You—"

"Kaiba," Seto grunted, thrusting a soggy paper into the shorter boy's hands. "And this might interest you," he said, tapping his foot, obviously waiting for them to read it.

Looking at Ryou and Malik who both nodded, Yugi unfolded the paper. Fortunately what they were looking for was on the front page.

"Oops," Malik said.

"Bakura," Ryou growled, sounding more like his yami than himself.

In his soulroom, Bakura was cracking up laughing. He had read the article through his hikari's eyes and found it quite amusing.

Yugi looked up at Kaiba in confusion. "I don't get it," he said. "I thought you were pretending you don't know us."

"I am, but I'm not going to allow myself to be dragged into one of your little Millennium Item incidents again, Yugi," Seto said. "Keep those things in check along with your…schizophrenic tendencies," he looked pointedly at Ryou. In his soulroom, Bakura flicked him off, muttering some choice words.

Yugi nodded. "Believe me Kaiba, we don't want another incident either."

Snorting, Kaiba turned and began walking in the direction most of the first years were headed. More than likely there would be a teacher there who could tell them what to do. Not having any better ideas, the other three followed. Soon they arrived at a lake where everyone was gathered around a giant man.

"Ev'ryone 'ere?" The giant bellowed over the storm. "Righ' then, ev'ryone inter the boats in groups of four!" he spotted the four older students and waved them over to him.

They obliged.

"Righ' you four will wan' ter go two to a boat," he said. They nodded and split up, Yugi and Seto in one, and Malik and Ryou in the other.

As soon as they were seated, the boats launched themselves. The lake was choppy and everyone found themselves hanging onto the boat's edges to prevent themselves bouncing too much or falling in. Of course not everyone was so inclined.

Malik snickered as he watched one of the first years fall into the lake. Ryou turned around in time to see a giant tentacle hoist the boy out of the water and back into the boat. He shook his head, then glanced back at Malik.

"What are you doing?" Ryou asked. Malik was leaning over the edge. "That's what that kid was doing earlier, you know."

"I think that was a giant squid," Malik said. "I want to see if I can see anything."

Falling to temptation, Ryou peered into the water, too. Not seeing anything, he was about to sit back up when a wave crashed into their boat, sending them both flying head first into the water.

Malik was the first to come up, screaming curses in Arabic, Ryou came up coughing slightly, mentally cursing Malik when something brushed against his leg. Screaming, he latched onto Malik.

"What the hell?" Malik exclaimed, trying to stay afloat. "Ryou get off of me!"

"Something touched me!" Ryou practically screamed.

Malik was about to open his mouth to retort when a large, slimy something latched onto them and threw them back into their boat, hacking up water. When they reached the shore, they were greeted by Yugi and Seto.

"You guys should really be more careful you know that?" Yugi reprimanded.

"Thanks, I'll try and remember that helpful hint," Malik said, wringing out his hair.

With a devilish smirk, "Ryou" pushed Malik back into the water. "Shall we go inside?" he asked.

Yugi sweatdropped and Ryou turned to go inside, followed by Seto and Yugi. Malik came up coughing and noticed them leaving.

"HEY!" Malik called, scrambling through the muck and out of the water. "WHAT ABOUT ME?" He ran after them and inside the door, slipping on the floor and sliding into a group of first years, knocking them over. He turned to see Yugi and Bakura snickering. "You know the least you could've done is wait for me," he snapped, glaring at them as they helped him over to the wall.

After being outside in the rain—and in some cases, the lake—for so long, all of the students were glad to be inside where it was warm…and dry. All of the first years huddled together, talking excitedly while three of the four foreign students stood together against the wall, the fourth one standing in the corner, avoiding everyone. From one of the side doors, an older woman wearing emerald green robes and a pointed hat emerged, calling for silence.

"Good evening. I am Professor McGonagall," she waited for the murmurs to subside. "In a few moments you will pass through these doors," she indicated the large ornate doors behind her, "and be sorted into your houses. Before that, however, I will tell you a little bit about Hogwarts for those of you who do not already know. The sorting will divide you into one of four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Your house will be like your family, you will eat, sleep, and have classes with your house. The houses run on a point system, misconduct will lose your house points, and points will be awarded at the teachers' discretion throughout the year for achievements. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup. Is that clear to everyone?"

There was a general murmur of assent. As soon as it had died out, McGonagall nodded and left the room, promising to return shortly. After she left, the chatter started again, much louder and more excited than before. As promised, she returned, calling for quiet again.

"First years, line up," she said. "Where are the transfer students?" she asked. Bakura, Yugi, Malik, and Seto raised their hands. She nodded. "Stay here for now. I will return for you later."

They nodded and watched as the doors to the Great Hall were swung open and the first years exited through them, the doors swinging shut behind them. They were alone…at least at first.

"Well well, what have we here?" came a voice from above.

Looking up, they spotted what could only be a ghost of some sort.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Bakura snapped.

The poltergeist looked surprised for a moment, then smirked. "Naughty, naughty," he taunted. "Possession is frowned upon here. Going to get expelled you are once I tell the headmaster."

"Wait!" Yugi called.

Peeves, as he was called, floated upside down and looked at them. "Hmm…maybe Peevesie won't tell."

Yugi sighed in relief.

"And maybe he will," he said, righting himself and cackling.

Bakura growled and activated the Millennium Ring, summoning Man-Eater Bug. Peeves' eyes widened as he dodged around the room, trying to avoid being killed.

"Alright, alright!" he called. "Just call it off!"

"You won't tell?" Yugi asked.

"No," he said, glaring slightly at Bakura, who just idly called the monster back to the shadow realm.

Thoroughly peeved, Peeves blew them a raspberry before flying through the wall and out of sight.

Yugi and Malik exchanged worried looks. "This doesn't look good," Malik said.

"Bastard," Bakura muttered, glaring off in the direction Peeves had gone.

"Bakura, this is serious," Yugi snapped, "We—" His sentence was cut off by the Great Hall doors opening, revealing McGonagall.

"Please follow me," she said.

Silently, they followed her into the Great Hall, aware of the eyes of every student bearing down on them. It was rather uncomfortable and didn't get any better when they reached the front.

From his soulroom, Ryou gasped. _/Bakura, there are ghosts here/_ he said.

**/No, really? I hadn't guessed/** Bakura growled.

_/No, I mean, I wonder if Amane—/_ But Bakura was forced to turn his attention away from his hikari—as hard as it was—and back to the real world. His name had just been called. He glanced at Malik who nodded toward the stool. Smirking, he strode forward and sat down on the stool and McGonagall placed the hat on his head—_/BAKURA! I'M SUPPOSED TO BE SORTED, NOT YOU/_ Bakura, caught off-guard found his consciousness being wrenched from his host and back into his body. This also caught the hat off-guard and for a brief moment he caught a glimpse of both minds. The hat flipped out.

"GRYFFINDOR AND SLYTHERIN, GRYFFINDOR AND SLYTHERIN!" the hat then let out a shriek and fell off Ryou's head and landed on the floor, twitching.

Ryou's eyes shot wide and he stared at the hat in shock, as did everyone else. McGonagall quickly went over and picked up the hat. "Honestly, what is wrong with you," She reprimanded.

"Let me see it, Minerva," the headmaster said, standing and taking the now limp hat from her and placing it on his head. There was silence for a minute before he reached up and removed the hat from his head, handing it back to McGonagall. "Stress," the old man said, smiling slightly.

Not quite sure what "stress" meant, McGonagall put the hat back on Ryou's head. There was a tense silence for a moment before the hat made its final decision.

"GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted.

Shakily, Ryou got up and handed the hat back to McGonagall, then headed to the table where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were clapping slightly, the rest of the hall was in a stunned silence. He sighed as he sat down across from them.

"Well that was entertaining," one boy who looked like Ron, only older, said. An identical boy was right next to him.

"Never seen anything like that before," his twin added.

Ryou didn't respond, he was too busy wishing he could curl up into a hole and die of humiliation.

"Aw, cheer up," the first twin said. "It could've been worse."

"How could it have possibly been worse?" Ryou asked.

"You could've ended up in Slytherin," a boy next to Harry spoke. "Hi, I'm Seamus Finnigan."

"Ryou Bakura," Ryou said, then looked at the twins who took the cue.

"Fred and George Weasley, at your service," one of them, presumably Fred, said.

"Don't bother trying to remember which one of us is which, though," George added. "Even our mum can't keep us straight."

"That's only because you keep claiming to be each other," Ron said.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat called. Ryou looked up in time to see Yugi heading toward them, looking half way relieved, half way like he was about to faint from nerves.

"Welcome to our little corner of paradise," Ryou said, motioning to the seat next to him for Yugi to sit. He did so.

"I was afraid the hat was going to go bezerk on me, too," Yugi said.

"Nah, I think that was a one-time thing," Fred said.

Seto had just put on the hat. There was a brief pause before the hat decided. "SLYTHERIN!" it announced.

"Surprise, surprise," Ryou said dryly.

"Shh, Malik's about to get sorted," Yugi said.

All eyes turned to the front in avid interest as the last of the students was about to be sorted. Just as McGonagall opened her mouth to read off the last name, the doors to the Great Hall banged open. All heads swiveled around to see who had just come in. There was a chorus of shocked muttering as a gnarled man appeared, as well as whispers of "Mad-Eye Moody".

The gnarled man slowly made his way to the front, an ornate wooden leg clunking with every step he took. When he made it, Dumbledore motioned to an empty seat at the table. The man clunked over to it and Dumbledore motioned for McGonagall to continue. Clearing her throat, she read the last name off the list.

"Ishtal, Malik, from Luxor, Egypt," she said.

Malik stepped forward to the stool and sat down. McGonagall dropped the hat on his head and there was silence in the great hall as everyone waited for the final decision.

"SLYTHERIN!" The hat proclaimed.

Malik jumped up. "WHAT?"

"WHAT?" Malfoy yelled, also jumping up.

"That can't be right," Malik said.

"Mr. Ishtal, if you would so kindly go to your seat," McGonagall said. "The hat's decision is final."

Muttering darkly, Malik stormed over to the Slytherin table, taking a seat at the end, making sure he was as far away from Malfoy as possible. Over at the Gryffindor Table, Yugi was hiding his head in shame while Bakura, back in control, snickered. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at their friend in shock.

"He didn't seem that unstable on the train," Ron said.

"They never do little brother, they never do," Fred or George said in mock sadness.

Silence fell over the Great Hall as the headmaster stood up.

"I would like to say a few words before we begin our feast," Dumbledore said. "First of all, I would like you all to greet the newest member of our staff…Professor Moody," he indicated the gnarled man, who just nodded. "I would also like to remind all of our students, new and old, that the forest is called forbidden for a reason," Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged sheepish looks. "Also, the quidditch cup will not be taking place this year—"

At this, there was a general outbreak of disbelief. Dumbledore, motioned for silence, which reluctantly fell once more.

"As I was saying, the quidditch cup will not be taking place this year due to another event that will be taking up much of the staff's time and energy. I am sure you will all enjoy it very much," he paused, "I am pleased to announce that this year, the Triwizard tournament will be taking place, here at Hogwarts."

The Great Hall once again dissolved into chatter, this time excited at the prospect of hosting such a legendary event. After everyone had settled down, Dumbledore continued.

"The representatives from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at the start of October and will be staying with us through the end of school. Now that everything has been said, tuck in," with that, he sat down and food appeared.

"That's a neat trick," Yugi said, blinking.

Bakura looked around at the food, then shrugged and began trying everything within arm's reach. Yugi watched in shock for a moment before making his selection.

_/I'm not even going to comment/_ Yugi said.

**/That may be best, aibou/** Yami said, sweatdropping as he watched the Tomb Robber eat. **/Ryou is going to be so embarrassed/**

Yugi mentally nodded. "Itadakimasu," he said, then began eating. Everyone within earshot, except Bakura, looked at him oddly. "Um…it's a custom," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Itadakimasu then," Fred said as if proposing a toast.

Yugi shook his head. Those twins were weird.

Dinner passed smoothly and soon everyone began to exit the Great Hall to their dormitories. Malik sulked as he followed the Slytherin crowd down into the basement.

"Well this is certainly a cheery place," he muttered.

Seto ignored him. How he had ended up stranded with this half-brained twit he could never guess. The fates were just cruel sometimes. Entering the common room, the two made their way up to the fourth year boy's dorm where their stuff was already waiting. As were some other rather unpleasant things.

Draco glared at Malik and Seto as they entered. "Looks like property values have just dropped," He said.

"Swamps and pond scum never did sell well, did they?" Malik snapped, glaring back.

Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles. "Watch your back, Ishtal," Draco said. "You and your friend."

Seto walked over to where his trunk was, ignoring everyone. "Let's get one thing straight," he said. "We are _not_ friends. But while we're on the subject," he stood and grabbed Draco, pinning him to the wall. "If I have to be stuck with you and Malik this whole year, then you two are going to have to suck it in because I am not going to be forced to listen to your little squabbles, is that clear?"

Draco nodded, nervously, but as soon as Seto had dropped him, motioned for Crabbe and Goyle to attack. Malik snickered and sat down to enjoy the show. They were both unconscious in 5 seconds flat. Everyone got the message, even Draco. Without a word, Seto returned to his trunk and pulled out his pajamas, then left the room to change.

"We'll settle this later, Ishtal," Draco hissed as soon as Seto had gone.

Malik glared. "Bring it on."

* * *

Well here you are, chapter 12. Hope you all liked it. Finally I can get into some real plot development! Hooray! Anyway, R/R as always. Ja! 


	13. The First Days

**Note**: from here on out the beginnings of the plot shall appear. The story will also become darker overall as it progresses. R/R

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters from Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter. They belong to their respective creators.

Chapter 13: The First Days

By the next morning, the storm that had been raging upon their arrival had died down, leaving only a chilly grey morning and soaked, muddy ground as proof of its existence. Groups of first years could be seen dotting the Great Hall as Yugi entered that morning, talking excitedly about what would prove to be a very eventful year. Stifling a yawn at the early morning, the spiky-haired teen made his way over to the Gryffindor table where Harry, Hermione, and Ron were, much to the latter's annoyance. Ryou was also there, reading a textbook, only looking up when Yugi plopped down next to him.

"Good morning, Yugi," Ryou said.

"Morning," Yugi said, picking up some toast. "You're up early, Ryou."

"I wanted to take a look at my textbooks," Ryou said.

"But school hasn't even started yet," Yugi said, obviously appalled by the idea.

"Well I want to be prepared," Ryou said.

Yugi shook his head and turned his attention to his breakfast. He was soon interrupted, however, by shouts coming from across the hall. Looking up, he saw Malik and Draco at each other's throats.

"Oh dear," Ryou said, looking up as well. The teachers were already headed that way to pull the two boys apart. "And school hasn't even started yet."

"Y'know," Yugi said. "I think that hat's homicidal."

"Agreed," Ryou said.

Meanwhile in his soulroom, Yami Bakura was laughing hysterically. **/Trust the Gravekeeper to be the first one to get in trouble/** he said with a carnal grin.

_/Don't even think about it/_ Ryou said, slightly panicked at the look his other half had in his eyes.

**/Wouldn't dream of it, light/** Bakura said silkily.

_/BAKURA/_ Ryou cried in exasperation, knowing full well what his Yami's tone meant.

After the fight at Slytherin table had been quelled, and detentions handed out to the offending parties, the heads of houses turned their attentions to handing out course schedules. Ryou and Yugi looked at theirs.

"Herbology first with Hufflepuff," Ryou read off, "And then you're having care of Magical Creatures with Slytherin while I'm having Ancient Runes." Yugi seemed happy at this prospect while the other Gryffindor 4th years nearby groaned. Ryou and Yugi looked at them questioningly.

"What's wrong with that? We'll be with Malik," Yugi said.

"Yeah, but we'll also be in class with Malfoy," Harry said.

"Oh," was the best response he could come up with.

"I _hate_ him!"

"Malik!" Ryou said, shocked at his friend's sudden appearance. His shocked look was instantly replaced by a smirk.

"Well well, look what the cat dragged in," Bakura said, shoving his Hikari's consciousness back into his soulroom. "Having fun with your little room mate over there?"

"Shut up," Malik said. He scowled at the thief. The other Gryffindors all looked at the Slytherin with varying degrees of distrust and curiosity at the fact that he seemed to be friends with one of their table.

"You know, for a Slytherin you're not all that bad," Ron said sagely. "Anyone who gets under Malfoy's skin has at least some redeeming qualities."

"Not hard to do," Malik groused. "The only people he likes are himself and anyone who is in love with him. Narcissistic little bastard."

"Malik!" Hermione chided. "That's not very nice—"

"But so true," Bakura said. "So, what happened?"

"The little prat was making smart remarks," Malik sniffed. "And we _both_ got detentions."

"So what's your schedule look like?" Yugi asked, trying to change the subject before anything disastrous happened, especially since Hermione looked about ready to tell Malik off for getting into a brawl on his first day.

"History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures, double Charms," Malik read off of his sheet.

Yugi looked at his schedule. "At least we have Care of Magical Creatures together," he said.

"So what's your schedule look like?" Malik asked.

"Well we're going to Herbology, then Ryou's going to Ancient Runes while we're in Care of Magical Creatures," Malik raised an eyebrow at the Tomb Robber who ignored him, "then we have double Divination together."

"Right, well I'd better go get my books," Malik said. "I'll see you guys later."

"See ya, Malik," Yugi called as their friend disappeared into the now gathering crowd of students who had finished breakfast. Many seemed interested in the "Slytherin traitor".

Malfoy glared at Malik as he passed. "You know, it's not wise to be associating with scum like that," he called, earning himself a rude two arm gesture from the volatile blond.

_Ra I hate him_, Malik thought bitterly as he left the Great Hall toward the dungeons. _I really, really hate him._

Yugi and Ryou followed the rather preoccupied Harry, Ron, and Hermione back up to Gryffindor tower, and then out onto the grounds toward the greenhouses. It was a pleasant enough day despite being overcast, although the squelching of the ground accompanied by the soaking of their shoes was a bit of a turn-off. They made it with a couple minutes to spare, the rest of the class milling around them with a few last minute stragglers popping up here and there. Prof. Sprout appeared soon after.

"Greenhouse three everyone," she called, waving them over to said building. The Hufflepuff and Gryffindor 4th years made their way over and inside where they learned of their assignment--collecting Bubotuber pus. It was a nasty job and there was an odd squelching noise every time one of the pods would burst accompanied by a rush of yellowish pus.

Yugi made a face. "Well there goes the learning magic theory," he muttered. Pus was oozing down his plant into a vial below.

Ryou cringed slightly. As soon as he had learned what they were going to be doing, Bakura had bid a hasty retreat into his soulroom, leaving his Hikari with the rather disgusting job. "Well, these are magical plants," he said.

"Not funny, Ryou."

Both Japanese boys were extremely happy when the bell rang signaling the end of class. They were the first ones up and out of the greenhouse, followed by the rest of the Gryffindors. Yugi and Ryou said goodbye as Ryou followed a small group back up toward the castle while Yugi followed the golden trio around the forbidden forest toward the game keeper's hut. Malik was already there looking sour and standing a good distance away from an equally sour looking Malfoy. Yugi walked over to him.

"Hey Malik," Yugi said. "How was History of Magic?"

"Boring," Malik said. "The teacher's a ghost with a voice that'll put you to sleep faster than a hammer."

"Wonderful," Yugi sighed as Hagrid appeared.

"Gather 'round e'ryone," the giant said. "Got somat ter show yeh."

Hesitantly, the group of students gathered around several crates lying open on the ground only to find the most disgusting creatures any of them had ever seen.

"Eurgh!" Yugi said, scooting as far away from the crates as was possible in the crowd of students. Eurgh, it turned out, was about all there was to describe them. In the crates were what looked like large grayish lobsters without shells or heads.

"Aren' they beau'iful?" Hagrid asked, not waiting for a response, but one wasn't needed. The looks on the students' faces said it all.

Yugi cringed slightly as they were given their instructions (they were going to try and feed these things). Malik, however, seemed to be thinking longingly of what, or rather who he could feed to the un-lobsters. Yugi sighed. This was going to be a very long year.

Divination didn't prove to be any better. As they had been told on the train, the Prof. was an old fraud who looked like something out of Weevil's deck. In fact, the resemblance was so uncanny, Yami Bakura offered to "put here back where she came from". It had seemed that they were going to get off easy until Ron made a smart remark, causing Prof. Trelawney to pile on homework.

Charms didn't prove to be any better for Malik who kept getting "accidentally" hit by Malfoy's spells (none of which were the summoning charm they were practicing).

"Ten points from Slytherin Mr. Malfoy," Prof. Flitwick said as he undid the jinx Malfoy had placed on Malik. Needless to say, class could not end soon enough for anyone involved.

After classes, Malik found Ryou and Yugi coming down from the tower.

"I'm going to kill him before this year is out, be forewarned. As soon as I learn how to do it with this stupid stick," Malik said, glaring at his wand. "Either that or stab him with the Rod and be done with it earlier on."

"Maybe we could send him to the Shadow Realm with Trelawney," Bakura muttered, sour. "Old insect doesn't know the first thing about Divination."

"Insect?" Malik asked.

"She looks like something that the Insect Queen hatched," Yami said. "So what did Malfoy do this time?"

"Charms," Malik said, not offering any further explanation.

The three made their way down the stairs and toward the Great Hall for supper when they heard a growling voice shouting followed by a thump. Hurrying over, they saw Prof. Moody bouncing a white ferret around the hall while a large crowd watched and laughed. Ron appeared to be in heaven. McGonagall appeared behind them.

"What is going on," she asked. "Moody, what are you doing?"

"Teaching," he said.

"Moody, is that a student," she asked.

"Technically, it's a ferret," he said, still calmly bouncing said student-turned-ferret.

Ironically, it turned out that not only was it a student, but Draco Malfoy who ended up being dragged off by Moody to contact his father.

"That made the fact I have to put up with Malfoy almost worth it," Malik said.

"I'm always going to remember that," Ron agreed.

"He could have been seriously hurt though," Hermione protested, although she was completely ignored. Realizing this, she stormed off into the Great Hall followed by Harry, Yami, Bakura, Malik, and Ron.

The rest of the week passed without incident until Thursday after lunch when the Gryffindor 4th years had DADA for the first time. Yugi had been doodling on his parchment, not really paying attention to the notes they were supposed to be taking until Ryou elbowed him in the side.

"...Gave the Ministry a right bit of trouble that one," Moody said. "Many Wizards claimed to have been forced into doing You-Know-Who's will. The problem is, how do you know?"

Yugi blinked, then slid his paper over to Ryou. 'What is he talking about?'

'Unforgivable curses. Curses that could land you in prison for life.'

'So?'

'Didn't you just hear him? This curse at least has the same ability as the rod.'

'Shit. We need to talk with Malik. Think Seto would want to know?'

'Probably not.'

Every student watched in fascination as Moody reached his hand into the jar, which contained three spiders, and pulled one out, sitting it on the desk. Pointing his wand at it he called "Imperio" and the spider began doing tricks. Everyone in the class was laughing by the time he had it tap-dancing. Everyone except Yugi and Ryou.

'Do you think,' Ryou wrote, 'That they would...arrest us if they found out about the Items?'

Yugi looked concerned. 'I think so. They seem serious about this...' they looked up at Moody who did not look at all amused. 'I think it would be better if we didn't use the items at all while we were here.'

"Think that's funny, do you?" Moody asked, interrupting their classmates' laughter. "What if I told it to drown itself? Or to jump down one of your throats?" The class became silent. "This curse allows total control. Many witches and wizards claimed to only do You-Know-Who's bidding because they were under the imperious curse. The problem is how do you sort out the liars from those telling the truth?"

The class was silent as Moody put the spider back in the jar.

"Another curse...Longbottom."

"The C-Cruciatus Curse, sir."

Moody looked at him for a moment before answering. "That's right," he said. "The torture curse." He pulled out another spider and enlarged it so they could better see the effects. "Crucio!"

The spider began writhing, its legs snapping to its back. Yugi looked sick, and Ryou was sure that the spider would be screaming if it had a voice, probably like one of the monsters from his deck when summoned. Finally Moody stopped and put the spider back in the jar. Yet again the class was silent.

"The final one," Moody said.

This time only Hermione raised her hand. "Avada Kedavra," she said so softly that Yugi and Ryou had to strain their ears to hear it.

"The killing curse," Moody said. He reached into the jar and pulled out the last spider. With two simple words, there was a flash of green light and the spider was dead. "The unforgivable curses," Moody said. He continued to talk, but Ryou and Yugi had both tuned him out, both lost in thoughts of what would happen if they were found out. After Moody finished talking, he made notes appear on the chalkboard for them to take down, the rest of the class was spent doing this. The notes managed to answer any question the duo could think of that had to do with punishment.

Yugi and Ryou walked out of the class silently. On their way to Transfiguration, they saw Malik headed toward the DADA room with the other Slytherins. They stopped him.

"Be careful," Yugi said. Malik looked at him in confusion, but didn't say anything.

For the rest of the day, the Item holders pondered over their fate in the wizarding world if anyone found out about the items. The prospects didn't look too good. What a perfect way to end the week.

That evening after classes and supper, Yugi, Ryou, and Malik left the castle to wander around the grounds where they wouldn't be overheard, even if they were speaking in Japanese. When they got out to the lake, they were surprised to find Seto already standing there.

"Ah Seto-kun," Yugi said. "Gomennasai, I hope we're not bothering you."

"Hn," was the only response the minute duelist got. When it appeared that that would be the only response they'd get, Seto spoke again. "I hope that if nothing else Defense Against the Dark Arts has convinced you to avoid any more sennen item nonsense. I for one don't want to be brought down with you."

"That's actually what we're here to discuss," Yugi said.

"What's to discuss? Don't use them, and stop changing personalities every five minutes," Seto said.

"Look you," Bakura said, wrenching control from Ryou. "You try being locked into a piece of metal 24/7 and see how you like it."

"Urusai," Seto said.

"Look guys," Yugi said, trying to keep the peace. "Seto's actually right. We need to be careful. We can't let anyone know about the spirits; Even if they are used to ghosts around here, there'll be questions if they find out Ryou and I are possessed."

Malik glowered. The thought of having to give up his dreams of using the Rod on Malfoy didn't sit well with him. The others looked at him.

"Well?" Bakura asked, looking at Malik. "I'll toe the line if you will."

"I won't use the Rod if that's what you mean," Malik said. "But as for 'toeing the line' I can't promise anything. Anyway, I have to get to detention."

Turning, Malik stormed off. Smirking, Bakura relinquished control to Ryou. Yugi sighed. This was going to be hard. Seto glared at him. "I expect you to keep an eye on your psychotic friends, Yugi," he said before following after Malik.

If their prospects hadn't looked good before, they looked even worse now. This was going to be a long year.

**A/N:** Okay, here is the loooong overdue chapter 13. I know, I know you probably all want to kill me but here's the deal: I've been working hard (sort of) to finish the story before I uploaded anymore so I could be regular about it, but it's taking too long so I decided to update early. Anyway I hope you have enjoyed chapter 13…thank 8 hours in a plane for this...and the next 4 finished chapters.

Ice-Spirit Phoenix


	14. The Triwizard Tournament

**Disclaimer**: Nothing has changed since the last chapter. I still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Harry Potter.

**Note:** in an attempt to make up for my horribly long absense...here's the next chapter . R/R and enjoy!

Chapter 14: The Triwizard Tournament

September melted into October without much incident (unless you count Seto discovering the section in the Library devoted to dragons), and before the students knew it, bulletins had appeared in each of the common rooms announcing the immenent arrival of the foreign students. Excited rumors began flying about the other schools and what they would be like, and what the tournament itself would be like. Fred and George began talking about entering, as did many others, some more loudly than others.

"Just think about it...eternal glory," Ron said to Yugi on Friday as they headed back to Gryffindor Tower to put their belongings away. "That would be bloody brilliant."

"Eh, I've already got that, at least in the game world," Yugi said, "and believe me, it's not all it's cracked up to be."

"Maybe, but still," Ron said with a sigh. "It's nice to dream."

Yugi and Harry exchanged looks. Oh well, if he got the chance, let him learn the hard way.

**Indeed it is nice to dream,** Bakura thought as he watched the exchange from his soulroom. **But I'd prefer to do more than dream little Pharaoh.** A cat ate the canary smirk crossed his face. Indeed, he would be doing more than dream. Much more.

Soon enough October 30th came and the entire school had been herded outside to await the arrival of the two foreign schools. Excited whispers ran through the crowd of students as they were arranged by height. Yugi, unfortunately, ended up separated from the rest of his (snickering) friends and wound up standing next to a boy named Colin Creevey who was talking his ear off about Harry. He cringed slightly, feeling sorry for Harry. He knew what it was like to have obsessive fans...and people trying to kill you. Eventually, the teachers came by quieting everyone down. They waited.

"How are they going to be arriving?" Ryou asked Hermione.

"No one knows," Hermione said. "Well I mean the teachers might, but no one else does."

"Oh," Ryou said. "What about the train?"

"It's possible, but not likely," Hermione said. "In a tournament like this it's more likely they'll want to make some sort of flashy entrance."

_Rather like some duelists I know, _Ryou thought, glancing at Yugi who appeared to be lost in thought, ignoring Colin.

After what seemed like an eternity, the students began to grow restless. It was then that several students spotted something and shouts of "look" began to come, although some were more creative ("What the hell is that?" Malik had asked, resulting in him getting elbowed in the ribs by Seto. "Ow! What was that for?" "You talk too much," Seto said).

Yugi followed Malik's gaze to the sky over the lake. Sure enough, something was coming toward them fast and it was becoming more and more apparent that this something was very large. When it came into view, it proved to be a giant blue carriage flown by several large Pegasus' (the realization of this made Seto twtich in annoyance). After it landed, a large woman stepped out followed by a dozen or two boys and girls who were obviously not dressed for the weather.

/**Oh look, they're unprepared for the weather**/ Bakura said, snickering slightly.

/_Yami!_/ Ryou said. /_That's rather cruel, don't you think?_/

/**Yes, and? Cruel is what I do...I don't do nice**/

Ryou groaned. His yami was hopeless.

Walking over to the headmaster, the giant of a woman greeted him like an old friend, then proceeded inside with her students to await the arrival of the Durmstrang representatives (and presumably prevent her students from freezing in their thin robes). After the group had disappeared from sight, attention returned to the castle grounds and the imminent arrival of the other foreign school.

The wait for Durmstrang proved to be much shorter. Within a few minutes of the arrival of Beauxbatons', the students heard a noise from the direction of the lake. Everyone craned their necks to look as a large old fashioned boat that looked like something out of a pirate movie appeared out of a whirlpool in the middle of the Black Lake. As the group from the boat disembarked and approached, excited whispers broke out among the Hogwarts students. All about someone named Victor Krum.

Ryou looked over at his friends. He raised an eyebrow at Ron who looked as excited as the girls. (/**Stupid fanboy**/ Bakura said, causing Ryou to shush him). Fred and George leaned forward. "He's obsessed," they said in unison, earning a glare from Ron. Yugi snickered.

As soon as the group from Durmstrang had passed into the castle, the students were allowed to file into the Great Hall and to their seats for dinner. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang came in behind them, looking around for a bit before moving off to sit down at the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables respectively. Victor Krum, or at least who Malik assumed to be him came over to him.

"Is that seat taken?" he asked, pointing to an empty one next to him.

"No," Malik said. Krum nodded and sat down next to him. Looking over, Malik saw Malfoy shooting him a withering glare. Smirking, he turned his attention to the older boy next to him who was dishing food onto his plate. "So, you're Victor Krum, right? The Kwidy-ditch player, right?"

Krum gave him an odd look. "Ya, I am Krum," he said. "You sound as if you do not know Quidditch."

"Nope," Malik said. "Never even heard of it before this year."

Krum looked slightly puzzled. "But you are almost my age."

"Yeah," Malik said, "but I didn't end up getting a letter until this year. Long story and I'd rather not go into it."

"That is most unusual," Krum said.

"You're telling me," Malik muttered.

Over at the Gryffindor table, Ron kept shooting glances over at the Slytherin table. At least if Krum had to sit over there he had chosen someone decent to sit with. "I still don't see why he didn't sit over here," Ron said.

"Who knows," Yugi said, shrugging. He really didn't care either way, but Ron was starting to get annoying.

"Excuse me, but are you done wiz zee Boullabaise?"

Yugi looked up and gawked, effectively dropping a chopstick. Blushing, he ducked under the table to pick it up. Ron wasn't much better off, blushing and stuttering about how good it was. Ryou, being the only one with a clear head, came to their rescue.

"Here," he said, handing her an untouched bowl. "We're not using it."

"Thank you," she said as she took it.

"What did you tell her that for?" Ron asked as she walked away.

"Well we weren't," Ryou said.

"Ron, will you control yourself," Hermione said.

"I don't know what came over me," Ron said. "She has to be a Veela."

"Hormones came over you, Ron," Hermione snapped. "And she is not a Veela."

"How do you know?" Ron asked.

"Nobody else was drooling like a moron," Hermione said.

"Yugi was affected," Ron defended, causing the other boy to become very interested in his plate.

"But Ryou wasn't," Hermione countered.

Touché.

"Um guys, what's a Veela?" Ryou asked.

"They're somewhat like sirens," Hermione explained.

"Oh, I see," Ryou said.

By the time the desserts had come and gone, Yugi was truly amazed that no blood had been shed. He had looked over at the Slytherin table a couple of times to see Malik and Draco engaged in a glaring contest and at least once a knife was being driven into the table. When Dumbledore stood up, it broke off said glaring contest (which was a great relief to all watching it) and an anticipant hush fell on the Great Hall.

"I would like to take a moment to say a few words," Dumbledore said. "First of all, welcome to our guests," there was a pause and scattered applause, but for the most part, everyone was too anticipant to really care about that sort of thing. ("Does he always talk this much?" Yugi whined. "Yup," Ron said). "Second, I would like to invite Mr. Ludo Bagman up here to explain to you how this tournament is going to work."

Ludo Bagman got up, looking about as excited as the students as he began explaining the rules of the tournament. Everyone listened intently as he explained the proceedure for entering, and the prize. Things went downhill, however, after that, because that's when he mentioned the age restriction.

There was an outburst of outraged muttering. A dark look came over Ryou's normally soft features and if anyone had been listening, they would've heard him swear in Japanese. Fortunately everyone was too preoccupied with the current announcement. Bagman tried and failed several times to quiet the hall before Dumbledore stood to intervene. Slowly the chatter died away, leaving the Prof. free to speak.

"I would like you to understand that this is for your own safety," Dumbledore said. "The tournament is dangerous and we want to minimize the risk involved. Now," he opened a box that was sitting on the teacher's table and pulled out a very plain goblet. With a flourish, a blue flame came to life inside it, thus oficially beginning the triwizard tournament. "Let the tournament begin."

With a final word, the students were dismissed. Making sure no one was watching, Malik slipped out of the group of Slytherins and doubled back toward the entry hall. Bakura followed. Neither stopped walking or looked back until they had come to a deserted corridor. Opening a random classroom door, Malik stepped inside followed a minute later by the spirit. Malik turned to face him.

"Okay, so what are we going to do now?" Malik asked.

"Enter anyway," Bakura said simply. "We'll just have to do it when no one's looking."

"How?" Malik asked.

"I'm dead," Bakura said. "I don't think the rules are going to apply to me."

"You'll have to make sure Yami doesn't find out," Malik said.

"That will be easy enough," Bakura said. "You still in?"

"Of course," Malik said, then took out a quill and parchment and wrote down his name and school. "Here," he handed it to Bakura, "You'll have to enter me."

Bakura nodded, then tore the parchment in half and wrote his name and school on the other half. He put both papers in his pocket and turned to leave.

"So when are you going to enter?" Malik asked.

"Midnight."

Indeed, true to his word, Bakura found himself lurking in the shadows outside the doorway to the goblet at 11:41. Peering around the frame quickly, he saw that Moody was still in there and withdrew his head from sight. Damn them, he thought. Trust Dumbledore to have a teacher on patrol. Eventually Moody left, however, and Bakura took his chance—before another teacher came—and put the two names into the goblet. As he had expected, he was met with no resistance. Smiling, he made his way out of the room and back to the common room. He knew that if he or Malik was chosen, they would catch hell, but they would cross that bridge when—not if—they came to it.


End file.
